A Fragile Heart
by AsianNinjaChik
Summary: [DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!] Lucy and Natsu finally have their moment? Gray finally opens up to Juvia? Erza and Jellal finally finish what they started? Levy and Gajeel finally confess? Elfman and Evergreen finally official? Carla finally accepts Happy? Laxus tells Mirajane? WOAH! Read to find out c; Transformation Arc: Chapters 1-20 Second arc in progress.
1. Transformation: Lucy

_AN: HEY EVERYONE! I'm Baaaaaak! And this time, it's time for Fairy Tail! 3_

_*Just a note: This fanfic is taking place AFTER the Grand Magic Games! So, if you have not read the manga, or seen the anime to this point, I recommend that you do! While I will try to keep the spoilers at a minimum, there's only so much I can do. Thank you! ~AsianNinjaChik*_

**Chapter 1**

**~Lucy Heartfilia~**

Hello! My name is Lucy. Lucy Heartfilia! I'm a Celestial Wizard at the best Wizard guild in Fiore: Fairy Tail! Although I haven't even been here a year, the Guild is already like my second home. The guild is always boisterous and loud, and we're always getting into trouble with the Council. But we're like one big happy family, and nothing can stand in our way. You could say that the way I joined Fairy Tail was interesting...

..."On my way to Magnolia, where the guild is located, I made a stop in the fishing town of Hargeon. There, I paid 19,000 Jewels in order to buy the Key of the Canis Minor, aka Plue. As I stomped around town completely furious, I heard that the legendary Fire Wizard, Salamander, was in town. I had gone to join the huge mob of girls surrounding him, just so I could see him. Instantly, I fell in love. That is, until a certain pink-haired idiot and some flying blue cat came charging in and was nearly killed by all the other girls by insulting the Salamander. But the minute he broke through the crowd, I fell out of my daze and realized that it wasn't love. The Salamander let him off the hook with his autograph and the poor kid just kinda stood there. That was when the Salamander left telling us that he was having a party on his yacht that we were all invited to. I had decided to talk to the pink-haired fellow and to thank him, I brought him and the cat to a small restaurant where I learned that their names were Natsu (The boy) and Happy (the weird flying blue cat). Through dinner, I learned that he came here looking for some guy named Igneel. I also, realized that the stupid creep, Salamander, was using Charm magic to make all of us girls fall in love with him. Lucky for me, I had strong willpower and managed to break free of his spell. Yes, with your help, Natsu, now shush. Anyway, we talked about Igneel who was actually a Dragon!, and the creepo Salamander, I yelled at him about costing so much for lunch, with which he tried to repay me by giving me Salamander's autograph, which I didn't want, yada yada yada. Anyway, after I ran away from Natsu, I had gone to a park and was reading Sorcerer Weekly when the Salamander gave me a personal invitation to his party, which after learning he was a member of the Fairy Tail, I accepted. But, on the ship, I found out that he lied about being in Fairy Tail and his "party" was only a sham so he could capture all the women. He threw all of my Gate Keys into the ocean and left me defenseless. Natsu came to my rescue and after getting used to the rocking boat, totally kicked Salamander and his lackey's asses. Happy tried to fly me to shore but his wings disappeared and dropped me into the ocean where I found my keys. After Aquarius nearly killed me, but still knocked the ship back to port, there was a showdown between Natsu and Salamander. In the end, it turned out that not only was Natsu a Wizard, but he was a member of Fairy Tail, and the Salamander creep was just that, a creep. During the fight, Natsu started eating the Salamander's aka Bora's flames (ewh) and it turned out that he was not only super strong, but a Dragon Slayer, and not just a Dragon Slayer, but he was also the real Salamander! Needless to say, he won by a landslide. After that, the army came for whatever reason, and Natsu grabbed my arm and brought me to Fairy Tail! The End."

As I finish my story, I see Natsu nod vigorously.

"Aye, sir!" Says Happy in the way he always does.

A little girl by my feet pulls on my skirt, "Tell us another story, Lucy!"

The other kids all scream, "YEAHH!" So naturally, I had to, even though I didn't want to.

"Natsu?" I cry feebly, "I think this job is too much for me!"

"Aye, sir!"

"Fine, I'll tell them a story." Natsu says as he clears his throat. All the kids turn towards him, "Alright, who wants to hear a story?!"

"WE DO. WE DO!" The cheer.

As Natsu riles them up, Happy flies over by my shoulder and whispers, "You shouldn't let him tell a story. This will end badly."

I sigh, "At least there's a good reward."

Happy nods in an "intelligent" way.

"...And then, Erza jumped up and BAM!, threw her lance at the moon!" Natsu says as he jumps up.

I rest my cheek in my hand and smile, I remember this. It was back on Galuna Island. Man, that feels like forever ago!

"...And these little sparklies came falling down!" He finished.

"Wait, so did she kill the moon?" a little boy asks, crying.

"Ah-ah. Well. Uhm… No- Stop crying!" He complains.

"You're lying!" The little boy accuses, "Hey, Lady. Is he lying?"

My face flames with anger, "DON'T CALL ME LADY. But no, he's not lying. Come to think of it, I don't think he could lie even if he tried."

The kid puffs his cheeks out and finally nods.

A tall bubbly man with light blue hair appears in the doorway, "Lucy, Natsu, thank you for looking after them."

I stand and smile, "No problem, sir. Now, about our payment…"

"Ah yes, your payment. About that. You see, there's a small problem…"

***Later***

"I can't believe that he only gave us these lousy winged shoes!" I complain while holding my shoe box, "Like, seriously. What would I ever need these for?!"

"Calm down, Lucy. I'm sure you'll find some use for them. As for me," He starts, "I have Happy! I don't need these!"

"Aye, sir!" Happy cries.

With a flick of his wrist, Natsu send the box flying.

"Wait, Natsu! What if someone else needed to use those?" I scold.

For a moment, he deflates like a balloon, then, "Shoes! Wait up, I'm coming for you!"

"Aye, sir!"

Wings appear on the box and it begins to fly away with Natsu right on it's heels.

"Wuaaaahhhhhhhhh!" He shouts as he crashes through the marketplace.

"Natsuu!" I call as I run after him. At each of the market stands, I stop and apologize.

"My, my," A florist comments, "You're boyfriend is quite the handful, isn't he?"

"Well, yeah, he's kinda difficu- Wait a minute! We're not a couple!" I say as I storm after him.

"Dammit. I've lost him!" I mutter.

I sigh and continue down the street in hopes of catching some sign of him.

"Lu-cy!" I hear.

I turn and see Natsu cheerfully marching towards me with with the shoe box in tow, "I did it!"

"Aye, sir!"

I don't return his smile, "You idiot! What the hell is your problem! Don't go running off again!" I say as I hit him.

"I'm sorry, Lucy!" He wails as he hugs my waist.

"Wha- What are you doing?" I squeal as I run away.

"I'm apologizing. Lucy, wait!" He wails again.

"They liiiiiiiiiiiiiike eachother!" I hear Happy snicker.

"HAPPY!" I roar.

***Back at the Guild***

"Lucy! Natsu! Welcome back!" Mirajane calls as we trudge through the door.

"Hey, Mira!" I call back.

"Mrumph hum prff mrf ghurn pufn." Natsu mutters as he collapses onto the floor.

"Uh-oh!" Notices Happy, "Natsu passed out."

"The idiot." Gray says as he stands over Natsu, shirtless as usual,"WHY WON'T HE EVER LEARN HIS LESSON?"

"Gray!" Erza yells as she stands up from a table, her fist shaking, "DID YOU EAT MY CAKE?"

Gray's eyes widen into little moons and he falls to the ground and crawls backwards, "N-n-no. No, Erza. I didn't eat your cake."

"You lying bastard!" She roars as she attacks him.

Natsu suddenly jumps up and says, "A fight! I'm all fired up!" And joins them.

Everyone else returns to their normal daily routines as if this were a normal thing, which it was.

"Hey Lucy, come over here a minute!" Mirajane says from behind the bar.

"What's up?" I ask as I sit down.

An innocent look flashes across her face, "You and Natsu are really cute together, you know? I think that you two are going to end up like Alzack and Bisca one day!"

My terror grows as I picture Alzack and Bisca with Asuka, and suddenly, it's me and Natsu and-, "MIRA." I shout.

Evergreen coyly slides next to me, "You know, I think she's ri-ight."

Mira stops to think for a moment, "You know, Ever, you and Elfman are really cute, too! But you better not hurt my little brother." She adds darkly.

Evergreen's eyes widen and she skitters away.

"As I was saying Lucy…" She starts.

I put my hands up in front of me and shake them, "How bout we chat some other time? Gottagobye!"

***At Lucy's house***

"What's with Mira?" I wonder aloud, "This is the second time she's brought that up."

"Second time she's brought what up?" Natsu's voice calls from my room.

I walk in robotically, "NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS! And get out!"

"You know, when Mira bring something up, she's usually just playing, but if she brings it up anymore than twice, you know she's serious!" He calls as he jumps out the window.

"You could at least use the door!" I shout after him. I sigh, then remember, "Where's Happy? Where there's a Natsu, there's a Happy. And there was a Happy-less Natsu here just a moment ago."

I pause and search every nook and cranny in my room, "Well, I guess he's not here!" I conclude as I strip down in preparation for my bath.

"He liiiiiiiiiiiiiikes you." Is all I hear as I see a blue tail whisk out the window.

"HAPPY!"

_*AN: Well, I hope you guys all liked it! Leave a review and tell me what you think c: ~AsianNinjaChik*_


	2. Transformation: Juvia

_*AN: Wow! You guys have actually decided to move on to the second chapter c: Yee! Anyway, I know, I know, nothing exciting happened in the previous chapter, and sorry about that, just needed to warm things up a bit c; This next chapter will be from Juvia's point of view, so buckle up X3 ~AsianNinjaChik*_

**Chapter 2**

**~Juvia Loxar~**

The Guild was peaceful and quiet: just the way I like it… Until my Love Rival came back! I hid behind a pole and watched as Erza beat Gray senseless.

"Gu-raayyyyyy!" I call, "Juvia knows you can do it, Gray-sama!"

"Juvia, " He starts.

"Yes, Gray-sama?"

"Would you-"

"Never take your eye off your opponent!" Erza says while nodding and stepping on his head.

"Gahh ghghghghghg huaaaa uffufufufufuf." He gargles out.

My eyes widen as she helps him up and gives him a pat on the back. Erza has Jellal, so why is she so madly in love with Gray?

"Now," says Erza, "You're going to make me a new cake to make up for the one you ate."

"Huh?" He asks cutely.

"You heard me, Fullbuster. I want that cake. And I want it as soon as possible." She says while growing larger and glaring down at him. Come to think of it, she does that a lot…

I wonder how she does that? I think to myself.

Their voices fade out as I clutch my cheeks and enter Juvia World:

_"Juvia-san!" He calls while smiling._

_"Gray-sama!" I call back as I run into his open embrace._

_"Juvia-san. I made something for you."_

_"Oh, Gray-sama! What is it, Gray-sama?"_

_He leads me across a grassy plain to a small wooden table with a silver platter on it, "This, Juvia-san. I baked you a cake."_

I'm slapped out of Juvia World when Gray's naked body comes flying toward me… Gray's naked body comes flying toward me… Gray's naked body… on me…

"AIYEEEEEEE!" I squeal as we crash into a wall, "GRAY-SAMA, ARE YOU OKAY?"

"ERZA!" He roars.

"Gray!" I say as I restrain him, "Don't do it!"

He narrows his eyes and glares at Erza who sits down to drink some beer.

"Gray, Juvia has an idea!" I say while holding a finger up, "Well, we could go on a job together! I mean, we've never done it before and Juvia is really nervous but-"

I stop midsentence after realizing that he and Erza were looking at the Request Board together.

"GU-RAAYYYYYYY!" I scream.

That's it! Juvia is not going to put up with him anymore. I think to myself as I storm out of the Guild.

***Outside of Magnolia out on a random countryside road***

It's hot… too hot. This backroad is scary and sketchy...

"Phew. Juvia is hot. Where's my Gray-sama when Juvia needs him?" I groan, "Wait. NO! Gray-sam-... GRAY. Is the reason Juvia left. Juvia is done with Gray-sa- GRAY!"

I trudge along the side of the road, hurt and confused. Hurt? Why am I hurt? "Juvia is so confused!"

Just then, I hear hooves draw near as a carriage gallops forward. I jump up in surprise and start to run for fear of being run over.

"JUVIA IS SORRY! PLEASE DON'T RUN JUVIA OVER! JUVIA DOESN'T WANT TO DIE!"

"Woah, there!" I hear a voice shout to calm the horses.

They come to a halt next to me and three strange men with big butts in black suits look at me.

"Uhm… who are you supposed be?" I ask while tilting my head.

"CUUUUUTEEEEEEEEEE!" One of them squeals.

Cute? Juvia? Juvia is cute? NO! "JUVIA'S HEART BELONGS ONLY TO GRAY-SAMA!" I start, "But…"

"Fear not, cute Juvia-pyon!" The one I assumed to be the leader says.

Pyon? Ehhhhhh…

"Fair, Juvia," He starts again, "We are… THE JIGGLE BUTT GANG!"

"Jiggle. Butt. Gang?" I repeat.

"Yeah!" The fatter one says, "We are here to take you away to-"

"Sssshhhhhhhhhh." The leader says, "Juvia, do us the honor of getting in our carriage. It would make us so so happy!"

"Hm… and all Juvia has to do is get in the carriage?"

They all nod vigorously.

"Right here! Step right up!" The tall skinny one says pointing to the back.

"C'mon Juvia-chan!"

"Uh, okay!" I say, agreeing.

They help me into the carriage before they got into the driver's seat. Before long, I heard "hiyah!" and the carriage lurched forward.

***Not too long later***

"Huh? What's that?" The fatter one asks as the carriage drives to a halt.

"It's a girl, you dummy." The leader says.

"Aiyeee!" The skinny one cries, "It's not just any girl…"

"Eh? What do you mean?" The leader asks.

"I-it's… IT'S ERZA! From Fairy Tail!" He answers.

"EHHHH." The other two say in unison.

"Erza? From Fairy Tail… Eh? Why is Erza here?" I think aloud as I get out of the carriage and walk to the front where they are. Erza lies sprawled out on the ground and the Jiggle Butt Gang pokes her with sticks.

"Erza!" I shout.

"Not to worry, dear Juvia-chan! She will not hurt you." The leader says.

Juvia is not worried about her… I think to myself, "Oh, of course… Silly Juvia-"

"JUVIAA!" A voice calls out.

"GU-RAYYY-SAMA!" I cheer as he charges towards the Jiggle Butt Gang.

With a quick punch, the fight is over.

"Oh, Gray-sama. Juvia is so relieved and thankful that you came to save her!" I say.

He looks down and scratches the back of his neck, "Well, we needed you for a job. And we saw that you were gone…"

"YOU CAME FOR ME GRAY-SAMA!" I cheer.

"Yeah… uhm…" He starts, but I tune him out and jump around in joy.

"Juvia, we still need you for this job." Erza says as she brushes dirt off of her.

"Uh, oh yeah! What do you need Juvia for?" I ask.

"Well, you see…" Gray starts, getting a wicked grin.

"The job is to find some treasure, and half of it is our reward." Erza finishes, punching him in the face.

"Well… That shouldn't be too hard!" I say, "But wait… Why do you need Juvia?"

"It's underwater." Gray says simply.

"Come on Juvia, we're going to Hargeon!" Erza cheers.

"Hargeon?" I ask.

"It's a little fishing town a little ways away from here. It's actually where Natsu and Lucy met, come to think of it." Gray says.

I feel the anger boil up inside me, "Why would you remember that? No… it can't be…"

_***Back in Juvia World***_

_"Oh Gray." Natsu says while reaching for Gray's chin._

_"What is it, Natsu?" He says while blushing._

_"We can't leave Lucy alone like that." Natsu says while looking away._

_"Oh, Natsu, Gray, you don't have to worry about lil' ol' me." Lucy says cutely._

_"Of course we do." They say together, "Because we both lo-"_

"They are the best team!" Erza declares, snapping me out of Juvia World, "One day, they will end up like Alzack and Bisca!"

"Uh… Erza?" Gray asks timidly.

"How dare you say another woman's name with such fondness… Especially right in front of Juvia?!" I wail.

"Eh?" He asks, "I really don't know what you're talking about… besides," He adds with a sly grin, "Erza has… Jellal."

At this, Erza's face grows beet red. Without looking up, she beats Gray up and send him flying, "Now is not the time to focus on cute relationships, like Natsu and Lucy, but to find the treasure!" She says shamelessly.

_*Hey! If you read all the way to the end… yay c: You've made me really happy! Don't forget to Favorite/or Follow/or leave a review and tell me what you think! ~AsianNinjaChik*_


	3. Transformation: Natsu

_*AN: Thanks for reading my third chapter! Uhm, just remember to say that Fairy Tail, or any of the characters, doesn't belong to me… Obviously.. I mean FANFICTION? HELLLOOOO? But anyway, yeah. I'm starting to feel like some of you want some more action, and I'm sorry! I'm sorry! But, I'm building up to it! Anyway, thanks again for reading :3 ~AsianNinjaChik* OH OH OH! PS: I dunno if you're one of those readers who does it anyway or not, but I recommend picturing the characters doing these actions at some other point during the anime/ manga, and then transferring that to the situation they're currently in! I mean, you don't have to, but personally, that's how I write.. type?... my fanfictions. But anyway… Sorry! READ ON!_

**Chapter 3**

**~ Natsu~**

_But doors are a waste of time._ I think as I leap out of Lucy's window.

"And to think, that all I wanted was some food, eh Happy?" I say miserably.

When there was no answer, I stopped and turned around, but the little blue cat wasn't there, "Happy? Where are you?"

I see him fly from Lucy's room towards me with a sly grin so I ask him, "Why were you hiding from Lucy?"

He snickered, "She called you a happiless Natsu."

"EHHHHHH? I'M PLENTY HAPPY!" I roar sending fire streaming into the sky.

"No, Natsu. Happy as in me! She said you were Happy-less."

I feel stupid, "Well, you could've said that to begin with."

"I'm sorry, Natsu." He say starting to cry, "I just thought it would be funny if-" He is cut off as his flying wavers and he falls into the small river by Lucy's rented house.

"It's oka- WAIT A MINUTE. YOU DIDN'T ANSWER MY QUESTION!" I say, paying no regard to the fact that he was floating away. Instead, I ran after him, "Don't run away from me you stupid cat! Answer my question!"

"Answer what question?" I hear. I spin around and see Lucy smiling wearing the purple outfit she wore during the Grand Magic Games.

"Lucy! Wait… why do you still have that odd getup?" I ask.

Her face inflates, "I happen to think that it's cute, thank you very much."

"Well whatever you say. What did you need?"

"You were being really loud so I came out to tell you to shut up." She says while smiling sweetly.

I'm taken aback, "Wh-wh-whaat? Say, do you know why Happy would want to hide from you?"

She looks away from me and places her thumb, index finger, and middle finger on her forehead, "You recovered from that awfully quick." Then, to my face, "No, I don't know why Happy would want to hide from me. I gave him a fish yesterday, didn't I?"

I think for a moment, "Yeah, you're right."

"Hey Natsu?" She asks, suddenly looking embarrassed.

"Huh?"

She looks down while trying to avoid my eyes, "Will you… Go on a walk with me?"

"Eh? It's kinda late." I point out.

"Yeah, I know… But I want to walk under the stars." She explains while tilting her head to the side and smiling.

_Is she trying to be cute or something?_ I think to myself _This new Lucy is kinda weird… Maybe I walk her back home so she doesn't do something stupid like flashing someone her breasts._

"I don't think that's a good idea. You're acting kinda strange. I'm going to walk you back home now."

She falls to her knees, "No! I wanna go on a walk with you Natsu."

_Why does this look so familiar?_ I think. Suddenly, I hit my palm with the bottom of my fist, "That's it!"

She stops blubbering, "What's it?"

"You were like this when we went to the hot springs and you were drunk! This is bad! Lucy, you need to go home. It's not safe for you to be wandering around at night especially if you're drunk." I decide.

She leaps to her feet, "You idiot! I'm not drunk. How stupid are you?! Why can't you tell? Can't you see how I fe-" She stops herself.

"Tell what? See what?" I ask confused, "I can tell that you're drunk out of your mind. C'mon." I say as I sling on of her arms over my shoulder in support, "I'm bringing you home."

"No way!" She says, grabbing her arm away from me, "Catch me if you can!" And she runs off.

"Lucy, now's not the time to being running off!" I yell as I run after her.

***Southgate Park-Under the big tree***

"Lucy, I found you. Now let's go before you cause any more trouble." I say walking up to where she is sitting under the tree.

"Sit with me, first." She says.

"Huh?"

"Sit."

"Okay." I say while shrugging, "Why do you want me to sit?"

"I have some questions for you."

I look up at the stars, "Okay."

I hear the slight rustle of grass, and suddenly, her hand is on mine, holding it, "Do you think I'm pretty?"

I look back at her, keeping in mind that she's drunk, "Uhm, sure."

She pouts and leans forward, "Just sure? Stop lying. Tell me if I'm pretty or not!"

I pull back, a little hesitant, "Yes, you're pretty, Lucy."

She pulls back, "Really?"

"Nah, I was just saying it because that's what you wanted me to say, right?" I say honestly.

Her face inflates and she frowns, "You're a liar, Natsu."

"And you're drunk." I start to stand.

"Wait! I have more questions." She pulls on my arm and I sit back down with the life sucked out of me.

"Alright. But not for too much longer." I agree.

This seems to make her smile again. I sit looking the other way while waiting for her next question, "Close your eyes." I close them and face her. "You can open them when I say to." I nod. When she doesn't say it, I turn open my eyes only to see her face millimeters from mine with her lips puckered and eyes closed.

_Is this some kind of a pose? Is this what girls are doing for pictures now?_ I slowly skitter backwards, away from her slow advance, now on her hands and knees. _This is really weird._ I think as I feel my face go blue.

Suddenly, "GEMINI! YOU BETTER NOT BE SHOWING OFF MY BOOBS TO RANDOM STRANGERS!"

I look up, "Gemini? … GEMINI!?"

Lucy opens her eyes and looks up at me with her face back to normal, "Oh darn."

Lucy comes running down the stairs and looks at Lucy, who is almost on top of me. _Wait… Lucy looks at Lucy… Gemini!_ This whole time, it was Gemini, not Lucy. I feel stupid for a moment before brushing it off.

"Whew." I say.

"Bye, Natsu! I had fun!" Gemini-Lucy says smiling.

"Gemini! Go back!" Real Lucy orders.

Gemini-Lucy waves and is taken over by gold particles as she returns back to the Celestial World.

Lucy pants, "I'm sorry she did that to you, Natsu!" She says apologetically.

"Oh, it's okay. She taught me a funny pose, though!" I say excitedly.

She doesn't look amused, "What is it?"

"Close your eyes and don't open them until I tell you to!" I say eagerly.

She frowns but still closes her eyes. For a moment, I notice that she's wearing plain gray sweatpants and a simple pink top, This is the Lucy I know, at night at least… I add to myself, not forgetting how she loves dressing up. I see her start to get impatient and I lean really close to her and right before puckering my lips, I say, "Open them."

"NATSU, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!" She screams while she hits me away.

"Gemini did it to me and I thought it was a funny pose so I showed you." I say with my cheeks puffed out.

Her fist shakes with anger as she says, "Gemini… did that… to you?"

I nod, confused yet again.

"I WILL KILL HER!" She shouts into the sky. I'm sure that she would be breathing fire right now if she could.

"Yeesh, women." I say nonchalantly.

She glares at me, all anger redirected, "What was that, Natsu?"

I put my hands up in a calming manner, "Nothing! Nothing. I said nothing!"

She continues glaring at me. In an effort to cheer her up, I grab both her shoulders and gently lay her onto the grass where I support myself above her with my hands on either side of her head, one knee in between her legs, and my other leg in push-up position. Her glare is wiped off her face, and in seeing that I have accomplished my goal, I grin at her. Bad choice.

"LUCY…. KI-ICK!"


	4. Transformation: Cana

*AN: Wow! My newest story already has more views than one of my older ones! You guys have no idea how happy I am c: Now, I'm sure you guys are thinking (still) that there's no romance! There's no excitement! Well, fear not, brave warriors, for this chapter is going to be from Cana's point of view, and it's going to introduce a ship that I absolutely ADORE, but some of you guys may find a bit iffy. What is that ship? You'll have to read to find out! There's also going to be a whole bunch of my personal favorite ships introduced so you guys can see where some things will be going. After all, we all know how Cana is X3 Thank you for everything, and don't forget to follow, favorite, and review if you liked it c: ~AsianNinjaChik*

PS: Because she is Cana, after all, she will have some random thoughts. Anything in italics will be her random Cana-ish thoughts.

**Chapter 4**

**~Cana~**

I slam my large half-empty beer mug onto the table and glare at Mirajane, "Gimme more."

She tilts her head, "I don't think that's a good idea, Cana. Besides, yours is only half-empty."

"Just like Natsu and Lucy's relationship!" Levy says, looking up from a book titled: Rowan and Julie, by Willhelm Quiversword.

"Eh? Whuttur ya talkin' about?! Their relationship isn't half empty! It's as full as my mug should be!" I say turning to Mira.

"No, it's pretty nonexistent. I mean, neither of them can tell, and we all know how oblivious to love Natsu is." Lisanna says, adding to the conversation.

"Say, Lisanna," I start, "Do you still plan on marrying Natsu?"

Her face turns beet red. Levy looks at me crossly, "That's not something you ask someone, Cana!"

"No, no… It's fine, Levy." Lisanna says, "I mean, I guess I do still like him… but, I respect that he doesn't feel the same. After all, Dragon Slayers only ever fall for one person their entire life. And while it might not be Lucy, although it probably is, I also do know for sure that it's not me. I've come to learn and respect that, and it's alright with me. After all, there are other fish in the sea, eh?"

At this, Levy starts tearing up, "That was beautiful Lisanna! So inspirational."

At this exact moment, Gajeel walks by and sees Levy crying, "Eh?! Which one of you made Levy cry?"

We all look at him in surprise… Well, all of us except for Levy, who looks up at him in loving annoyance. Okay, so maybe not loving annoyance, but yoohoo, they are most definitely a thing. Even a blind person could see that!

He looks at me and points, "Was it you, Cana? I bet it was. I'm gonna rip you to pieces!"

"NO! Gajeel!" Levy complains.

He immediately calms down… a little… and looks down at her in surprise, "Huh."

"Cana didn't make me cry… None of them made me cry for any particular reason…" She explains to him.

"So why are you crying? Stop! I don't know how to deal with a crying girl!"

Annoyed, I throw my, now empty, mug at him, "Shut yer yap and go do something manly. We're trying to have a heartfelt conversation between women."

He would've had a sharp comeback if not for Elfman hearing "manly" and dragging him away to do "manly" activities.

"Well, well!" Mira says cheerfully.

Suddenly a thought strikes me, "Hey girls, there's a trick I've been working on with my cards. I call it the "Cards of Love". "CoL" for short. Whaddya guys say? Wanna go a round?"

Levy smiles, "Sure!"

_Oh, Levy, we all know you and Gajeel are destined for eachother. But you're so cute._

Mirajane also smiles, "Why not? I suppose it couldn't hurt!"

_Hm… Mirajane… I wonder who the cards will pair her up with…_

Lisanna sighs, "I think I'm going to sit this one out…"

_Oh hell no you don't!_ "Uh-uhhh, Lisanna! You're not sitting this out!"

She looks away and nods. Just then, Wendy walks up, "What are you guys doing?"

"The Cards of Love… Join us Wendy!" I say.

"Okay!"

Carla looks at her disapprovingly, "Wendy!"

"C'mon Carla! You play, too!" Wendy says.

"Wha- I- NO!" She shouts.

"Too bad, cat." I say, "You're in, too."

"ELFMAN, WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO GAJEEL?" Evergreen yells as she slowly backs away.

"Hey, Evergreen!" Levy calls, "Come play a card game with us!"

"A card game?" Not Evergreen, but Lucy asks.

"Lucy! You join, too!" Calls Lisanna as she and Evergreen walk up.

"Alright." They both say, nodding to eachother.

I feel proud. The only two girls in Fairy Tail not here are Bisca, Erza, Juvia, Laki, and Kinana. "Shall we get started?" I ask.

"Wait, Kinana! Come over here, we're playing a card game!" Wendy calls to the dark purple haired non-wizard.

She smiles, who could resist Wendy?, "Sure."

_Now, all I'm missing is Bisca, who's married, Erza, whom we know to have Jellal for sure, I mean, they did almost kiss, Juvia, who's on a mission with Erza and Gray (OMG THEY ARE SO CUTE. WHY IS HE SO STUPID.)… And Laki… Who totally has a thing for Gild- My dad…_

"Okay, We're going to start now." I declare. All the girls, who had been busily chattering away, stop talking and look up, waiting for me to explain the rules.

"Only a few things. 1) I'm going to give you a card with a picture of a guy on it. 2) You are going to give that card the person you think should date the guy. 3) If the card agrees with you, it will turn green and the current holder won't be able to see the guy on it until all the cards have turned green. 4) If the card does NOT agree, nothing will happen and the current holder will have to pass it to someone else. Simple enough?" I say.

"How do the cards know?" Lucy asks hesitantly.

"Every person I've come into contact with is kind of… memorized by the cards, I guess. Every single thing about them. Although I'm the only one who knows who is on every card at any given moment, I don't tell the cards who to pick. They do that on their own." I explain.

"Alright." She says, nodding satisfactorily, "Deal us in!"

I reach into my bag and grab a deck of nine cards, and give one to Lucy, Evergreen, Mira, Lisanna, Wendy, Carla, Kinana, Levy, and one to myself.

"You're giving yourself one, too?" Lisanna asks.

"Yeah. I've never done this to myself, actually. I'm quite curious." I explain, "Now, everyone, flip your cards over.

As they all flip their cards over, I use my magic to see what is on each one.

Lucy has Romeo. Evergreen has Gajeel. Mira has Happy. Lisanna has Natsu. _Ouch, that's gotta hurt…_ Wendy has Lyon. _Weird…_ Carla has Laxus. Kinana has Elfman. Levy has… _Sting? From Sabertooth? Weird…_ And I have… _NO WAY. WHAT IS HE DOING HERE?_

"Is something wrong, Cana?" Mira asks.

"Oh, no… Just someone unexpected popped up…"

"Yeah, same here." Levy says.

"Well… switch 'em!" I instruct.

Lucy gives her card to Wendy. _Expected… they are the two youngest after all… Not counting Asuka._ Evergreen gives hers to Levy. _Well, OBVIOUSLY._ Mira gives hers to Carla. That was so blatantly obvious. _Carla already know who's on that card._ Lisanna gives hers to Lucy, hesitantly, I notice. _I feel for ya… Poor thing._ Wendy hesitates before giving hers to Kinana. _Interesting choice…_ Carla gives hers to Mirajane._ I agree with that actually…_ Kinana gives hers to Evergreen. _She's going to kill me later… Poor Evergreen…_ Levy gives hers to Kinana. _Hm…_ And I give mine to Lisanna.

All the cards shine a brilliant green except for the two given to Kinana, and the one given to me. Kinana thinks for a moment, and gives Lisanna Lyon's card, and trades cards with me.

All at once, they all shine brilliantly for a moment. With a flash, the light is gone and faces are revealed one by one on each of the cards.

Lucy's is the first to reveal itself, "NATSU?" She screams, "NO WAY. WH-WHAT KIND OF A STUPID GAME IS THIS ANYWAY?"

I smirk, "The cards tell you who your perfect match is. They never lie. If… no, when I do this to the boys, they'll get the same results."

Lucy stays red and slams her card down, "Who'd you get, Evergreen."

Evergreen was more red than Lucy, if it was possible, "I-I- I got… E- Elfman…"

Levy squeals, "Awhh! You guys are a great team!"

I hear Erza's voice as she says in agreement, "You're completely right, Levy. Evergreen and Elfman are the perfect match!"

"Oh, hi, Erza. I thought you were on a job with Juvia and Gray?" Levy asks.

Erza nods carefully, "I thought it would be the best decision if I left."

"At any rate," I start, "Take this card and tell us who's on it." I instruct while handing her a card.

She grows just as red as Lucy and Evergreen. Without so much as a word, she hands me back her card and storms off hurriedly.

"Who'd she get?" Wendy chirps.

I smirk, again, "Jellal."

By this point, Lucy has recovered… somewhat, and she smiles, "Yeah! I'm glad that he's a good guy now!"

"So, Mira, you're next." Levy says.

She smiles as if nothing were wrong, "I got Laxus!"

Six jaws hit the table. Mira looks confused, and I nod, knowing that she did in fact like him.

"Moving on…" I say in an attempt to gather everyone's attention, "Lisanna."

She frowns at her card, "I have Lyon."

Evergreen, too, has recovered and she nods knowingly, "Well, it makes perfect sense."

We all turn to hear why she thought it made sense, because quite frankly, I didn't know either.

"You see, they were both madly in love with someone who did not love them back." I see Lisanna turn red as she continues, "And now, they've both accepted that their former love has someone else in their life." Lisanna is no longer red as she looks up.

"Ever… I think you're right." She says in agreement.

Lucy jumps up, "NOW HOLD ON A MINUTE. NATSU MOST DEFINITELY DOES NOT HAVE SOMEONE ELSE IN HIS LIFE!."

We all laugh and move on to the next victim, "Wen-dyy!" I sing.

She grows slightly red and a small smile appears on her lips, "I got Romeo."

At this, everyone begins cooing and agreeing that they would make a cute couple.

"Can we just skip mine? I really don't know why I even did this. We all know who I got." Carla says looking away.

"Was it Happy, Carla?" Wendy asks innocently.

"Yeah."

She looks extremely unhappy so I decide to move on, "Kinana…"

Instead of the reaction I had expected, she smiles happily and says, "He's the one that's been calling to me this whole time. I felt him during the Grand Magic Games, as well, during the fight between the Dragons."

"Eh? Who is it?" Lucy wonders.

"I know you guys don't like him… But he's very dear to me… It's Cobra… From Oracion Seis."

All,but Mirajane, and my own, of their faces go pale.

"C-c-cobra?" Wendy asks timidly.

Kinana looks away shyly, "I always knew he was the one for me."

Levy stands up in what I think is an attempt to break the silence, "Well, no guessing involved in this one, I suppose. Gajeel!"

"As expected." Evergreen says as the others nod in agreement.

"Okay Cana, you're last." Lucy points out.

"Yeah. I know."

"So… who is it?" Mira asks, genuinely curious.

I let the card float to the table so they can all see, "Sting. From Sabertooth."

_*AN: Alright! Sorry for the totally abrupt ending, but the next chapter from Sting's point of view (not this next one, sorry guys! but maybe a few chapters later) will be extra special, especially because we all know how Cana can get when she sets her mind on something! Hope you enjoyed! MY next chapter will be up maybe on Friday. Until then!_


	5. Transformation: Erza

_*AN: This chapter was hard to write, so I'm sorry if it's bad! I'm going to keep this AN short: HAPPY READING! ~AsianNinjaChik*_

**Chapter 5**

**~Erza~**

"Gray. I know I've told you this before." I say as we look at jobs on the request board.

"Told me what?" He asks.

"It's quite clear that Juvia has feelings for you."

He is silent for a moment, and then, "How bout this job?"

I look at the job he picked out. "Sunken Treasure off the Port of Hargeon". Reward: Half of your findings.

"Why this one?" I ask.

"Because."

I wait for him to finish, "Because… What?"

He looks away and rips the job off of the request board. With a somewhat shamed look, he marches out of the Guild.

"You're forgetting something." I say to his back.

"She left a little while ago." He says in turn.

I look around and see that he was right. I smile secretly and follow him out.

"How did you know that she had left already?" I ask him once we're out.

"I couldn't feel her staring at me anymore."

I stop, "That's not true."

He, too, stops, but he doesn't turn to face me, "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean."

He turns slightly, but still doesn't look at me, "No. I actually don't."

I narrow my eyes, and before he can blink, I grab him by the collar and shove him against the side of a building, "Listen up, Fullbuster. I don't want to have this conversation again."

He grimaces, "There's nothing to say."

"You can't tell me that you feel nothing about Juvia!" I shout as I hit him against it again.

He doesn't answer at first, but then, "I think I've made it quite clear how I feel about her."

My grip tightens, "You couldn't be any more wrong."

Suddenly, my arm goes slack and I let him drop.

He looks up, confused, "What?"

"You can't toy with a girl's feelings, Gray. They're a part of life, and you know just as well as I do that life is precious. It's not something that mankind can control." I look up at the sky as I say this, not daring to make eye contact, "Trying to control feelings is like trying to control life itself. It's not something that we learn, or are not. It's part of human nature. No matter what your beliefs are, what gender you are, or even how old you are, you still have feelings. They're not something to be messed with. Play with them, and you play with someone's life."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying that if you really don't like her, then tell her that. Plain and simple. If you do like her, tell her. But don't send mixed signals." I look at him as I say that last part.

He avoids my eyes, "I don't… dislike her."

"That's a start."

He doesn't say anything more, but instead, keeps walking.

Unsure of what to do in this awkward moment, I follow suit.

***Side of a random countryside road while following the carriage Juvia is in***

"It's the Jiggle Butt Gang." I say tersely.

"The who?" Gray asks.

"The Jiggle Butt Gang. They worship Wendy and have terribly foul smelling butts."

His face is not one of amusement, "Why are we following them?"

"They have Juvia, can you not tell?"

He looks away, "Whatever."

"I have a plan. I will lie down in the middle of the road and force them to stop. You will jump down and get Juvia out of there." I explain.

"Okay."

I run a ways ahead and find a suitable spot and lie down. It isn't long before the carriage reaches me and the Jiggle Butt Gang member get off and examine me. Then…

…"JUVIAA!" Gray calls as he jumps, just as I had told him to do.

"GU-RAYYY-SAMA!"Juvia cheers as he charges towards the Jiggle Butt Gang.

With a quick punch, the fight is over. I'm proud. He's gotten better.

"Oh, Gray-sama. Juvia is so relieved and thankful that you came to save her!" She says with hearts coming out of her eyes.

He looks down and scratches the back of his neck, "Well, we needed you for a job. And we saw that you were gone."

"YOU CAME FOR ME GRAY-SAMA!" She cheers.

"Yeah, I guess. I mean, we needed you for a job so I was thinking that you could help us, as I just said, but you weren't there, so we came looking for you.

Although he couldn't tell, I could see that she had tuned him out and was fantasizing.

"Juvia, we still need you for this job." I say as I brush dirt off of my armor.

"Uh, oh yeah! What do you need Juvia for?" She asks.

"Well, you see…" Gray starts, getting a wicked grin.

"The job is to find some treasure, and half of it is our reward." I finish, punching him in the face for being stupid.

"Well… That shouldn't be too hard!" She says, "But wait… Why do you need Juvia?"

"It's underwater." Gray says simply, recovering quickly.

"Come on Juvia, we're going to Hargeon!" I cheer.

"Hargeon?" She asks, which was the wrong response, but I'll live.

"It's a little fishing town a little ways away from here. It's actually where Natsu and Lucy met, come to think of it." Gray says.

She turns red. "Why would you remember that? No… it can't be…"

"Why would you say that?!" I ask, punching him yet again.

"I dunno… It's the first thing I think of when I hear Hargeon."

"And why is that?" I ask, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Because, how different their two stories are is really funny." He says smirking.

"They are the best team!" I declare forcefully, "One day, they will end up like Alzack and Bisca!"

"Uh… Erza?" Gray starts to ask.

"How dare you say another woman's name with such fondness… Especially right in front of Juvia?!" She wails.

"Eh?" He asks, "I really don't know what you're talking about… besides," He adds with a sly grin, "Erza has… Jellal."

At this, I grow beet red. Without looking up, I beat Gray up and send him flying, "Now is not the time to focus on cute relationships, like Natsu and Lucy, but to find the treasure!" I say shamelessly.

"Alright! Let's go! Juvia is ready." She squeals.

I then look down as if forgetting something.

"What is it Erza?" Juvia asks.

"I think I forgot something at the guild.. I'll have to go get it." I announce.

"EH?!" Gray asks, startled, "What did you leave?"

This stops me in my tracks, but I recover quickly, "I was polishing my Water Empress armor, but I forgot to put it back."

"Put it back where?... I don't wanna know. Besides, we have Juvia."

Her face lights up, "Yeah! Juvia won't let you drown."

This stops me again. I need to somehow get them to finish this on their own…

"Right… but what if something happens? I'm going to need my armor!"

Gray's not buying it, and I can tell, "You have other armor."

Without paying attention to the words coming from my mouth, I say, "FINE. I JUST WANT TO GO BACK AND GET CAKE."

Juvia cluelessly looks back and forth between us. Gray seems scared out of his wits.

"Cake…?" He confirms.

"Cake!" I say.

"Are you really going to go back for a lousy piece of cake, Erza?" He asks.

I glare at him menacingly, "You dare to stand between me and my cake?!" I counter.

He seems to shrink, "Of course not. You should go get that cake."

***Back at the Guild***

I walk out in a hurry after handing Cana back her card. Jellal. My perfect match.

I can feel how red I am as I burst through the guild doors and head to the forest to clear my head.

"Erza?" I hear a young girl's voice call.

"Meldy! (_AN: This is what they called her in the translation I watched._**_ BTW: This part will contain spoilers, if you wanna skip the spoilers, just read the last paragraph of this chapter.)_**" I exclaim, "What are you doing here? Where are Jellal and Ultear?"

"You don't know?" She asks sadly.

"Know what?"

"I'm surprised Gray didn't tell you, after all, I think he knew."

"Know what?" I ask, agitated.

"Ultear gave her life in order to save everyone during the fight with the dragons." Jellal says as he walks up.

"WHAT?"

"It's a special spell that turns back time equivalent to what the caster's life is worth. Although her life was only worth one minute, that was all it took to save Gray, and the rest of you."

"I… I didn't know…" I try to say sympathetically.

"Meldy, continue searching." Jellal orders.

She nods and runs off into the woods.

"Erza…"

I'm fine. I am fine. I am Erza Scarlet. I'm fine, "I'm fine. What are you guys doing out here?" I ask trying to change the subject.

He seems glad, "Crime Sorciere is hunting down a runaway Wizard. He uses transformation magic on other people. Even without that, though, he's plenty strong. For whatever reason, women and children are immune to his magic, so I need your help."

_*AN: Wow, can't believe I finished it X.X Looks like chapter 6 will be up by Friday at the latest. Man! I was on such a roll, today! c:_


	6. Transformation: Sting

_*AN: For everyone wondering how my random ship of Stana… Cang? Lol, whatever… random ship is going to work out.. uhm… Oh yeah! This is how it's going to work out! And you're right, anonymous reviewer, in saying that they never talk, but, she knows of him and therefore, the cards could do their magic :P Anyway, READ ON! ~AsianNinjaChik*_

**Chapter 6**

**~Sting~**

I've been in these woods for nearly a day. I let Rogue take over as Guild Master while I was gone. I couldn't stand being stuck there for any longer. I needed to breathe. I needed to breathe the fresh smell of… blood?

Immediately, my senses are alerted and I'm ready for anything. Even a girl fighting a rabid forest vulcan right in front of me. Okay… maybe not so ready for that. I leap into the air, and with a swift kick, the Vulcan lies on the ground. Untwitching.

I look at her, "The woods are dangerous."

Her brown hair is disheveled and she is pale, "So am I."

I see a large casket of whiskey attached to her belt, "You're drunk."

She huffs, "I am not."

"You clearly are."

"I'm clearly not."

"This is getting us nowhere. Why don't you start by telling me who you are?" I ask.

She pauses, "You first."

"I just saved your life. You first." I point out.

"I didn't need your help."

"It looked like you did. I smelled blood."

Her eyes narrow when I say that, "It was his."

"Was it?"

"Check." She says.

Now it's my turn to narrow my eyes, "Fine." I check it. And just as she had said, the blood was definitely his.

"You're a wizard." She states.

"So what if I am? So what if I'm not?"

"But you clearly are."

I smirk as I use her own argument against her, "I clearly might not."

She doesn't seem fazed in the slightest, "You have Sabertooth's guild mark."

I couldn't deny that, "So, you're a Wizard, too?"

There is no witty banter this time, "Obviously."

"You still haven't told me your name." I point out.

"And you still haven't told me yours." She counters, "We're even."

"But I just saved your life."

"No, you didn't. We've been over this."

"Right, but you're drunk, so it clearly doesn't matter."

As she walks closer, I smell the alcohol on her and see that she has a crazed look in her eyes, "You like that phrase, donchya?"

I take a step back, "What phrase?"

"Clearly. I mean 'Clearly this' and 'Clearly that'."

"You're awfully observant for a drunk woman."

She glares at me again, "I'm not drunk." She totters and I catch her before she falls, "You hear me? I'm not dru...n….k…."

With a small smile, I pick her up, "Yes you are." And I carry her back to Sabertooth with me.

***In Sabertooth Infirmary***

I am just beginning to nod off when I hear her sheets rustle. The girl I found in the woods sits up and looks right at me.

"I told you I wasn't drunk." She says.

I frown, "I'm sorry… I thought you were."

She smiles a little, "I was. Thank you for not believing me."

I laugh, "Will you tell me your name now, mysterious forest girl?"

"You tell me yours first. My conditions are the same."

I'm confused, "But… you were drunk… How do you remember everything that happened?"

"Years of practice." She says.

I know that I am stronger than her, so I say, "I'm Sting. Master of Sabertooth."

She seems to brighten at that, "Cana, the drunken wench of Fairy Tail."

She's full of surprises isn't she, "Fairy Tail?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Natsu Dragneel… he's in your guild?"

"Yeah."

I am about to ask her another question, but a different one strikes me, "What are you doing out here by Sabertooth?"

"Looking for Sabertooth. Looks like I found it."

"Why?"

"Why not?" She asks.

"Why are you looking for Sabertooth?"

"I'm looking for someone in particular."

"Who?" I ask, growing impatient.

"Just someone."

"Who is this someone?"

"Just this person."

"I understand that. Who?"

"I already told you." She says stubbornly.

I'm becoming more and more frustrated, "Fine. Don't tell me. You can walk yourself out." I start to leave.

"Wait."

I turn to face her, "Oh? Decided to tell me?"

She smirks, "Of course not. I was going to ask if you could bring me some more beer."

I'm surprised, but I try not to show it, "Oh? Is that so?"

She frowns, "You think I'm kidding?"

"Get your own damn beer." I say, walking out.

"At least tell me where from!" I hear her call after me as I leave the infirmary.

I ignore her and stroll casually into the Guild Hall.

"Who's that?" Rogue says as he walks up to me.

"It's a girl from Fairy Tail." I say.

"Fairy Tail? What's her name?"

"I think it was-"

"Don't tell me you've forgotten already? The name's Cana." She says cutting me off.

"You're from Fairy Tail?" When she nods, he continues, "What are you doing here, then?"

I begin to walk away. I am not about to sit through this conversation again.

But, instead of some cunning remark as I expected, she says, "I'm actually looking for him."

I look at the finger that she points at me.

"Me?"

"Him?" Rogue asks.

"Yeah." She says.

"Why do you need me?" I ask.

"Buy me some beer and we'll talk."

Rogue frowns, "Beer? I know a good place… but there's a catch."

She grins, "Who gives a damn?! Let's go!"

"At least listen to what the catch is!" I say to… two people not listening to me.

***Outside of Sabertooth***

"Why, exactly, are you here?" I ask Yukino, a petite lavender-haired Celestial Wizard.

"I wanted to be here." She sneaks a glance at Rogue while she says this, _As if I wouldn't notice_, "Besides, I wasn't about to let Cana go about town with you two savages."

Rogue only frowns, but I'm offended, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Calm down." Rogue says.

Cana laughs. Yukino smiles.

I frown, "What's so funny. There's nothing to laugh at."

Cana laughs harder. Yukino suppresses a giggle.

"Gosh, 'White Dragon'," Yukino says, using my nickname, "You've been edgy ever since you lost to the Salamander."

I frown again, "One day I'll beat him. I promise."

Cana smirks, again… She must like doing that…, "Have fun with that."

I begin to say a sharp retort before Rogue stops us in front of a pink tavern… Pink Tavern?

"It's pink." I point out.

"Yeah… that's the catch." Rogue says.

"Only that it's pink? That's not too bad." Cana says.

Yukino's face is a deep shade of red, "Why are we here, Rogue?"

"We needed a place with good beer. This place has that." He explains.

"So you come HERE?" Yukino shouts… or gets as loud as Yukino gets, I suppose.

"Why do I feel like there's more?" I ask Rogue.

"There's more what?" I deep voice asks from the door of the tavern. A plump man with purple hair in the shape of a tree looks at us carefully as we stand in surprise.

"Who're you supposed to be?" Cana asks rudely.

He seems offended by this, "I am the proud owner of this tavern."

She seems unamused, "Does you or this tavern have a name?"

"The tavern…" He chuckles, "The Tavern.. OF LOVEEEE!"

I cast a sideways glare at Rogue who pretends to not be paying attention. Yukino covers her eyes as if ashamed to be with us, and Cana… Well, she has the poor man's head locked in a choke grip… But she's laughing… and he looks terrified, to say the least.

"Cana, let go of him." I instruct.

"Hmph. You're no fun." She snorts.

The man straightens out his green suit, "This will not do. None of you are dressed appropriately. Kindly leave."

Cana seems pissed, "We're here for the beer. That's all. I dunno what else goes on in this tavern and I don't wanna know. I just want some damn beer!"

"Rogue…" I start.

"I know, I know… Look sir, we would just like some beer if that's alright."

He eyes us carefully, "Just here for beer?"

We all nod… all of us but Yukino, that is.

He seems to think for a moment before saying, "Fine, fine, whatever."

He leads us into a simple wooden tavern, through the main room, and into a private room in the back with a large table with cushioned seats, and two… beds?

"Hey.. what are the beds for?" I ask a little too late, as he has already closed the door.

Cana reaches for one of the bottles of beer lying on the table, but before she can, I slap her hand away, "Before you get drunk, tell me why you needed me."

"Fat chance." She says reaching for another one.

I don't get to it in time. She pops it open, and before any of us can say anything, she's chugged the whole thing.

With a burp, she sets it back on the table, "Boy, dishtuff is rully good."

Rogues allows a small smile, "Drink up, Sting, Yukino. There's a bottle for each of us."

Before long, Yukino and Rogue somehow end up on one of the beds with Yukino giggling hysterically and Rogue actually laughing. I realize that I shouldn't be saying anything because I'm laying, shirtless, next to Cana, on the other bed.

I bolt up, _What am I doing?_

Cana, too, sits up and pokes my shoulder, "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?!" I ask in surprise, as if she couldn't tell, "E-E- I dunno…" I say.

_Wait… I do know? Do I?_

"Yer real pretty." I say.

_Why did I say that?! Oh, no. My mouth is speaking everything on my mind right now… Wait… I don't think she's pretty… Do I?_

She giggles cutely, "Oh stop it, you."

_Ewh… "Cutely". What an ugly word._ When I glance over at Rogue and Yukino, they're… gone?

Cana lays back down on her back and looks up at me.

"Why are you so cute?" I ask.

_AGH. What's wrong with me… There must've been something in the beer. I have to tell her._

"I dunno. Why are you so handsome?" She asks coyly.

I feel my mind go on overdrive. Suddenly, I'm no longer thinking, only speaking. Only doing.

I hold myself above her as she wraps her arms around my neck.

"You're mine." She says.

"And you're mine." I say back.

"Is it true that Dragons and Dragon Slayer only ever find one true love?" She asks cutely.

"Mhmm." I hum.

She frowns slightly, but doesn't remove her arms from my neck, "Oh, I feel kinda bad, then."

Seeing her sad is weird. I don't like it, "Why would you feel bad?"

"What if you haven't met her yet? What if you already have… How bad would she feel if she knew this was happening?"

How stupid is she?, "I've found mine."

Her frown deepens and her arms go loose, "Oh."

I lean closer to her, "And she's laying under me. Right now."

Her frown turns into a silly smile and she giggles, "Oh really?"

I lean close enough and touch my nose to hers, "Oh hell yeah."

She closes the distance between us and I feel her soft lips touch mine.

We stay like this for awhile, before my dragonly instincts decide that they want more. I flip us over so that she's on top of me. Her hair tickles my face and she looks down at me with clear brown eyes.

"Why are your eyes so pretty?" I ask stupidly.

She hesitates, "I can't do this."

I blink in confusion, "Do what?"

She sits up and pulls me up so that I'm also sitting, "You're under a spell right now."

Spell? What's that?

"Stop being stupid, Cana. C'mon."

"No, you're under a spell."

I still don't know what she's saying… _Or do I?_ Slowly, bits come back to my mind as she searches for my shirt.

"Spell." I repeat slowly.

"Yeah. Spell. It's a love spell. It makes two people who drink the beer madly in love with eachother. Once the drinker is aware, it wears off. Now hurry up and put this on." She says, throwing my shirt at me.

Suddenly it hits me… My shirt, yes, but that's not it, "Where are Rogue and Yukino?"

"It wore off. Good. It seems that they got it bad, for whatever reason. The feel through the bed into what I'm assuming is a holding cell for slaves."

"How did it wear off on you?" I ask, suspicious, all senses returned to me.

"It only kicks in when you get drunk. If you get drunk." She says smugly.

"You're saying that…"

"Yupp. I don't get drunk."

I remember everything that happened in the brief… I look at the lone clock hanging on the wall… twenty minutes, "You were… conscious through all of that?"

I see her open her mouth to answer, but before she can, the floor begins to shake, and we fall into black.


	7. Transformation: Lisanna

_*AN: Hey everyone! So, today is actually my birthday, so I thought, "Why not make a chapter about a birthday?! So, that's exactly what this chapter is! Well… not really… but kinda! Not really… BUT THERE IS A PARTY! Kinda… :P Anyway, this chapter is probably going to be a bit shorter since it's hard for me to write from Lisanna's point of view (for whatever reason that may be). On the bright side, I'll update twice! Or… I'll try to! ~AsianNinjaChik*_

**Chapter 7**

**~Lisanna~**

"Hey, Natsu!" I say walking up to him and Happy.

He looks up from his heaping plate of food at me, "Huh?"

"Do you know what today is?" I ask him.

He hesitates for a moment before answering, "A good day to go on a job?"

"No…"

Happy raises his hand, "It's July 7th!"

Natsu freezes, "The year is X791," He starts slowly, "And Igneel and the other Dragons disappeared in X777… It's been fourteen years since they disappeared…"

"Well, actually, I joined Fairy Tail one year after you did… So, that means, you've been have Fairy Tail for 14 years, now."

His face remains troubled. Happy, too, frowns, "C'mon Natsu… It's the fourteenth anniversary of you being here."

"This is a happy occasion!" Cana says as she walks up, "DRINK SOME BEER! HAVE SOME FUN!"

Natsu seemed to have to force his smile out, "Hooray!"

"That's the spirit, Natsu!" Cana says walking away.

"Wait, Cana! Where are you going?" I ask her.

"Remember that 'game' we were playing a few hours ago?"

"Yeah?"

"What game? I wanna play a game! Does it involve blowing stuff up?!" Natsu asks excitedly.

Ignoring him, she answers, "I wanna know why."

"Wait… I don't understand…" I say.

Natsu frowns, "I WANNA KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON!"

Cana smiles at him, "We'll play a round with all the guys later when I get back." Then, to me she adds, "I'm going to find him and figure out this mess."

"Wait, you're going to Sabertooth?!" I almost shout.

A lot of the chatter in the room dies down, but the girls, seeing Cana's intent, quickly covered it up by trying to get the conversation started again.

"Sabertooth?" Natsu asks, "I wanna come!"

"Not this time Natsu," She says, almost out the door, "Maybe next time!"

He pouts. My big brother walks over and hugs Natsu's neck, "What's all the commotion about?!"

In a haste to cover things up, I smile brightly and say, "It's been fourteen years since Natsu has joined Fairy Tail!"

Happy nods, "AYE, SIR!"

Makarov appears out of nowhere and instantly silences everyone, "You know what this means?"

"What what means?" Squeaks Lucy's voice as she hurries into the Guild.

Makarov grins and together, the whole Guild shouts, "PARTY TIME!"

***One party transition scene later***

"Hey, Lucy!" Natsu calls, suddenly wearing a party hat along with everyone else in the Guild, "Come over here!"

I can't help but notice the twinge of jealousy that worms its way through me as she walks over. I look away and feel myself go red.

"Eh? Was I interrupting something?" Lucy asks sweetly.

She's so nice… Why am I jealous? He deserves a girl like her… Me? I get someone like Lyon. There's clearly something wrong with Cana's "Cards of Love". "Oh, no! You didn't interrupt anything! In fact, I was just about to head over to Fairy Hills. I saw Wendy go over there alone a little while ago, and I wanted to go check up on her and make sure she's alright."

Lucy doesn't seem to like that idea so much, "Oh, no, Lisanna! It's alright, I can go check up on her!"

Natsu flashes her an adorable fish-face, "But Lucy," He whines, "You promised that we'd go on a job together."

The twinge strikes again and worms itself deeper this time, "Oh, Lucy, it's fine! Really!"

"Natsu." She says irritatedly, "I said LATER." To me she says, "Really, it's fine… In fact, I insist that you stay here. I'll go bring Wendy down."

Without letting me say anything, she smiles and runs out.

Suddenly, there is a light booming noise coming from the stage. Gajeel sits on a stool, ready to sing. I see Levy sitting down and covering her face in embarrassment. I sigh, wishing that I could have a relationship like that with someone one day. Being able to know that he would never move on… I remembered reading about how Dragons and Dragon Slayers only ever fall in love once. _Lucky Levy. She has Gajeel for the rest of her life. I thought I had Natsu… I really did. But I guess I didn't. Lucy is one lucky girl… They both are… To be able to have their perfect match forever._ I sigh.

"Eh, what's wrong, Lisanna?" Evergreen asks as she walks up to me. Natsu was long gone, currently trying to punch Gajeel in the face to stop him from singing.

"I don't know. It's everything, yet nothing."

"Boy troubles?"

"More like Natsu troubles." I joke half heartedly.

"I'm not much older than you, Lisanna, but I am old enough to be able to tell you that it will happen over and over until you choose to accept the one that fate foretold you to be with."

"Does that mean you've accepted Elfman?" I ask slyly.

Her face doesn't go as red as I expect it to, "I guess, deep down I have. Old attachments are like a bad case of the flu, they don't go away until you muster enough nerve to stare them in the eye and say, 'I'm done with you!'"

"Ehhhhh…. I don't think you can stare the flu in the eye…" I say hesitantly.

"Well, of course not… it's metaphorical! What I'm trying to say, is that it's fear that's holding you back from moving on."

I didn't know that Evergreen was this smart, "Fear?"

She nods, "Fear of losing someone dear to you. It's the same emotion that makes it hard to fall for someone in the first place, and makes it harder to get over them."

"Do you really think that's it?" I ask, mulling over the things she just told me.

"I actually don't know!" She says. And it's just then that I notice her mug is empty, "But it's a party, Lisanna! Kick back, relax, and have some fun!"

I stand up and walk over to the stage, where Gajeel is readjusting his suit. Natsu is trying to punch Laxus, who simply holds him away with only a finger.

_Muster up enough courage, eh?_ I think to myself, _Let's just see how much of it it'll take!_

"Hey, Natsu!" I call as sweetly as I can. I turn and see Evergreen giving me two thumbs up. Looks like she wasn't that drunk.

"Oh?" He stops moving and looks at me, "I'm kinda busy, could you wait a moment?"

"No you're not." Laxus says as he literally flicks Natsu away. He shakes his head and walks over to the bar.

He's rubbing his head when I walk up to him, "Sorry about that."

"Huh? Don't worry about it. What did you need?"

"I was wondering if we could talk…"


	8. Transformation: Wendy

_*AN: Hmmm…. You know who we haven't heard from? Wendy! This is gonna be fun :3 At any rate, READ ON! ~AsianNinjaChik*_

**Chapter 8**

**~Wendy~**

"Wendy!" I hear.

"Carla? Who is it?" I ask the little white cat as I carefully tie ribbons into my hair.

She opens the door and I see Lucy in the mirror come walking in.

"There's a party going on! I came to get you… IF you wanted to go that is…" She explains.

"Wendy…" I hear Carla warn.

"Carla, don't be worried about Cana, she left a little while ago." Lucy says persuasively.

Where'd she go? I wonder, "Where'd she go?"

"Sabertooth, I think… To talk to Sting."

"Boy! Cana works fast. Hey Carla, do you think I should go talk to Romeo?"

I see Lucy crack a smile, but Carla says, "No! You're supposed to train today."

"But Carla…" I start.

"C'mon Carla. We're celebrating… actually… I'm not really sure, but it has to do with Natsu. You really should come." She says, cutting me off.

"Carla, I've been training almost nonstop since the Grand Magic Games. I really wanna have fun!"

She frowns, "FINE!"

Lucy smiles hesitantly, "Alright! Let's go."

As we are walking outside, I smile at Lucy, "Do you wanna see a trick I learned?"

She nods, "Yeah!"

I stop and inhale as much air as I can. With one mighty gulp, I swallow it all and say, "Secret Dragon Slayer Art:Invesi Aera!"

Lucy's puzzled face quickly turns into one of amazement as she watches me turn invisible.

"Wendy! What happened?" She asks frantically.

I giggle, "I don't really know, but it was in the book that Grandine gave me."

"Grandine? Ohh…. Edolas's Grandine here on Earthland? Porlyusica, Fairy Tail's medicinal advisor?"

"Mhmm! But I like calling her Grandine because it feels better that way." I explain.

She smiles, "Of course… But… what do you plan on doing?"

I think for a moment, "I'm not quite sure… Maybe I'll just sneak around and listen to people's conversations…"

She frowns in disapproval, "That's called eavesdropping… and that's not nice."

"Oh… then maybe I'll go around tickling people!" I say with an evil grin that no one can see.

Lucy scratches the back of her head, "Alright, let's… let's just get to the party already…"

"I'm going to stay here and do some things." Carla says.

I don't want her to, but I say, "Okay!"

"Uhm, Wendy… Where are you?"

I grab her arm, "I'll hold your arm the whole way there!"

She laughs, "Alright. Just don't let go!"

***At the Guild***

"Alright, Wendy! Have fun." Lucy says as we walk into the Guild.

As she walks away, I see Gajeel sitting on stage and Natsu and Lisanna walking into a hallway together. Curious, I decide to go follow them and eaves-… no… Learn from what they're saying. I nod to myself at this decision and squirm through the crowd until I am standing right next to them.

"What did you want to talk about, Lisanna?" Natsu asks.

Lisanna wanted to talk to Natsu? What about? I thought she was with Lyon!

She seems nervous as she answers, "Well… nothing really. I mean, something that's not that important… Wait, no… it is important… I just wanted to talk."

Natsu leans forward and hugs her, "You're a good friend, so don't cry… okay?"

Cry? As I look closer, I see that she is, in fact, crying.

"I'm sorry, Natsu… Let's go back to the party…" She suggests while pulling away.

He frowns and sits down while motioning for her to do the same. At first she doesn't, but even when she does, it's reluctantly.

"Now, what's on your mind?" He asks as if he knows what he's doing.

"I-uhm…. how do you feel about Lucy?" she blurts out.

I cover my mouth to keep from gasping, Why would she ask something like that? Is she… jealous?

Things are starting to get interesting, so I focus on them and tune everything else out.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"D-Do you think that…. think she's…." she looks away.

"Think she's what?" He asks.

"Do you think she's pretty!?"

Natsu blinks deliberately a couple times, "Uh. Sure, I guess she's pretty…"

"A-and what about me?"

"What about you?"

"Am I pretty?"

He blinks deliberately again, "Uh, yeah, I guess."

For whatever reason, this doesn't seem to satisfy her, "I have… I have one more question."

He nods, "What is it?"

I see her tremble as she stands to ask the next question,"Do you love her?"

_*AN: Sorry about it being REALLY short! I'm just so excited to get back into some Gruvia that I cut it off with a major cliffhanger c: Until next time: READ ON! ~AsianNinjaChik*_


	9. Transformation: Gray

_*AN: CHAPTER 9 GUYS! Woo! So, I've decided to tell you guys, briefly, a little bit about how this fanfic is going to work, and you guys can tell me what you think! So basically, this fanfic is going to be separated into arcs, just like the anime/manga. That being said, this fanfic will probably be an ongoing thing that may or may not ever end! What I will do is add to the summary where arcs start/stop so that continuing readers can skip straight to the respective chapter. That being said… as well?, anyway…, that I'm still thinking about a name for this arc, so if you wanna help me come up with one, I'll tell you a little about my plans for this one. In any case, thank you for reading this far, hope you're enjoying it, AND READ ON! ~AsianNinjaChik*_

**Chapter 9**

**~Gray~**

_***Please note that this chapter, timewise, will be from where Erza left Gray and Juvia, through the party, and a little longer than the previous chapter. This will be somewhat important if you're trying to match things up so you know what's happening when.***_

"Juvia is so happy that she gets to be alone with Gray-sama!" Juvia gushes as we continue down the back road.

I sigh, knowing that the next few weeks are going to be hard.

"Let's go, Juvia."

"Okay!"

"Why did she leave me for cake?" I mutter.

"Huh?"

"N-Nothing!" I say, hastily covering my slip up.

"Juvia thinks that we should go to Hargeon, now."

I stop walking and reach into the small pack that I always take with me and pull out a map to show her, "Magnolia is right here." I say, pointing to a small dot in the south-east of Fiore, "We need to go this way," I trace the direction on the map, "To get to Hargeon which is here." I say pointing to another small dot south-east of Magnolia on the coast.

"How far away is that?" She asks.

"Maybe a days trip?"

She looks out at the ocean on our right and says, "Maybe Juvia can get us there faster if we go by water?"

"Can you, really?"

She nods vigorously.

On sudden impulse, I take her hand and we slide down a rock face to the beach.

She walks around, picking up shells or admiring something she's found until she suddenly stops moving and stares motionless at something. A pretty shell or plant, I assume. I wait a little longer for her to resume examining the beach, but she still doesn't move.

Worried, I come up next to her and follow her line of sight. What I see isn't some pretty shell or plant. It's a small cottage.

"Should we see who lives there?" Juvia asks, noticing that I'm next to her.

I hesitantly nod, "Uh, sure."

Together, we walk up to the door and knock. Before long, we hear footsteps and the door creaks open to reveal an old fisherman.

"Visitors?" He asks.

When Juvia doesn't say anything, I assume that she is waiting for me to speak, "We were just passing through when we saw your house. We weren't sure if anyone lived here or not. We're really sorry if we bothered you."

Juvia nods beside me.

He doesn't say anything for a moment. Then, "So you two are Guild Wizards?"

We both nod.

"What Guild are you with."

I narrow my eyes, suspicious, "Why does it matter?"

Juvia places a hand on my shoulder as if to keep me from saying more, "We're from Fairy Tail."

I think I see his eyes widen, but it was too fast for me to tell for sure.

"Fairy Tail…" He says, mulling over the two words.

"You're the Guild that won the Grand Magic Games, right?"

We both nod again.

"So, I see you've received my request, then."

"You mean this is your request?" I ask, showing him the request form.

Juvia watches the whole thing silently, and quite frankly, I'm surprised.

He nods several times, "This is mine. Why are you here and not at Hargeon?"

Before I can answer, Juvia takes a step forward, "Juvia is a water user. It would be faster for us to go by water than to walk."

He eyes me, "And what kindof a Wizard are you supposed to be?"

"Well, you see…" I start.

"Gray-sama… your clothes…" Juvia points out with her hands over her eyes.

I look around wildly. This is definitely a habit that I need drop.

"So you use Ice Magic!" He says.

I find my pants and shirt and pull them on as I ask, "Yeah. How could you tell?"

"Only and Ice Wizard would strip like that!" He chuckles.

Juvia looks away awkwardly and I try to laugh with him.

"Why do you want us to find this treasure for you?" Juvia asks him.

The fisherman stops laughing and looks at us both seriously, "I know I didn't include this in the request, but I will tell you two now. The treasure is located inside of an old sunken ruin."

"A sunken ruin? Ruin of what?" I ask.

"I don't think that anyone knows, truth be told." He says, shaking his head.

"So, where in the ruin would the treasure room be?" Juvia asks.

"In the treasure room, of course."

I make a face to Juvia that the fisherman doesn't see, "Of course." I say.

"You two and your Guild can have everything in the treasure room except for one thing: A key." He explains.

"A key?" I ask.

He nods, "A key."

"What's so special about this key?" I ask him suspiciously.

His face pales and he suddenly falls face first into the sand in front of us. We immediately kneel down and push him into sitting position. His eyes are white and his mouth opens and closes as if trying to tell us something. As we watch, his face begins to change until he looks like someone completely different.

Realizing that he's not going to say anymore, I lay him down and close his eyes. As I look at the horizon, the sun is beginning to set.

"C'mon, Juvia. We need to hurry to Hargeon before it gets too dark." I say.

Instead of fawning over me like I expect her to, she walks into the, now dead, fisherman's house.

"Juvia, what are you doing?!"

"Something is very wrong here." She says.

I walk in after her and follow her as she walks into a small sitting room where a small pink bird sits sound asleep on a perch. There is a small sofa and a table stacked with magazines. Fishing trophies hang around this room. Uninterested, I move on to the kitchen, but Juvia doesn't follow me and instead further inspects the dainty sitting room. As I search the kitchen, I see nothing out of place and walk into a bathroom, where nothing seems wrong, either.

As I move on to open the door to the fisherman's bedroom, I hear Juvia behind me say, "Stop."

"Huh, wha-"

She rushes forward and covers my mouth with her hand. Getting that she doesn't want me talking for some reason, I nod and she removes her hand. From her cloak pocket, she withdraws a light pen and writes in the air, _"There's something wrong with the bird. I've seen one just like it in a pet store. They're expensive and hard to maintain. It's not something a fisherman would be able to afford."_

I take the pen from her hand and write back, _"So why can't we talk?"_

She writes,_ "These birds are smarter than people."_


	10. Transformation: Lucy 2

_*Hey guys! It's me again :3 You best be proud of yourself for making it this far with me c; Haha, I think it's time to relieve you of that cliff hanger from a couple chapters ago :3 Without further adieu, READ ON! ~AsianNinjaChik*_

**Chapter 10**

**~Lucy~**

When I get back back with Wendy, I decide to go pick out a job for me and Natsu to do, since he obviously looked so hung up on that. I walk over to the request board and study them for a minute before one catches my eye. "Save my Bird".

Intrigued, I rip it off and flip it over to read the description:

_"Hello, Wizard of Fairy Tail,_  
_I see that you have seen my job request and have decided to help me save my bird. If you are seeing this request, it must also mean that you have already taken up my request to find treasure. It also means that I am probably gone from this world. My request is that you find my bird, and keep him at your Guild so that he may have a wonderful life. Your reward is also the treasure that you can split with your friends."_

I frown… "Treasure?" I wonder aloud.

"Oh yeah! Erza, Gray, and Juvia went on a request to find some treasure for a fisherman." Elfman says as he walks up.

"Oh. Where's Natsu?"I ask.

"Probably with Lisanna. You should ask Ever."

At the mention of Evergreen, a sly thought crosses my mind, but I push it back until later, "Alright, I'll do that. Speaking of… You and Evergreen, eh?" I lightly elbow him.

His face goes red, "THAT IS NOT MAN."

I frown, "Sure it is, in fact, Alzack is more of a man than you are." I taunt.

"NO HE IS NOT."

"Sure he is. Having a wife AND a kid that you are willing to fight and die for? Now that's called being a man."

At this, Elfman runs over to Evergreen, who is sitting at the bar talking to Mirajane, and he says, quite loudly I must add, "EVER, LET'S GET MARRIED AND HAVE A KID!"

Mirajane smiles and Evergreen's face flames, "WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!"

While everyone in the Guild erupts into laughter, I hear Bickslow say to Fried, "He's finally making a move on her, she should take the opportunity."

As Elfman tries to… I don't even know actually… do something to Evergreen, Natsu appears behind me and asks, "Hey, Lucy. Do you love me?"

It's my turn to go red as I ask, "What kind of a question is that?"

"Well, Lisanna asked me if I loved you, and I said, 'Yeah, of course I do!', so she got really red for some reason and wanted to know if you loved me and I told her that I'd go find you and ask." He explains shamelessly.

How stupid can you… wait… _Did he just say that he loved me? To my face. Just like that._

"Natsu, how stupid can you get?" I ask, still red.

He frowns, "You're right! Of course you love me, I don't even know why I asked. Thanks, Lucy!" He says running off.

I stare after futilely calling him back. Realizing that things could end badly, I decide to follow him and eavesdrop on their conversation.

He walks confidently down a hallway until I hear Lisanna say, "So…?"

"Well, she didn't say it outright, but I think she does!" Natsu says happily.

I can feel her frown through the column I am hiding behind, "Oh, I see. What about me?"

"Huh?"

"Do you love me?"

Natsu's answer.. is not a smart one, to say the least, "How stupid can you get?"

Her shock resounds through the entire hallway, "Wh-what?"

He laughs, "That's what Lucy told me!"

I hit my forehead with my palm and hear Lisanna breathe a sigh of relief, "But is that a yes or no?"

"Well, since Lucy loves me, and that's what she said, it's a yes!"

"Really?!" I hear her squeal.

"Mhmm! I love everyone in the Guild equally!" He says decidedly.

Her disappoint rolls of in waves and I worry that I will get swept up in it, "Oh, of course you do."

_Poor Lisanna_, I think, _I know how much she cares about Natsu, and I think it's quite obvious… How can he not tell?_

_How can YOU not tell?_ A little voice inside me asks.

_T_ell_ what? That he's a stupid thick-headed idiot?_ I ask myself.

_No, silly. That you love him_. It says back.

I almost laugh out loud, _HAH. Yeah, right. I don't love him… Do I? I shake my head, Just as a partner. I love him as a partner and nothing more._

I take a quick peek around the corner, only to see Lisanna's hands tangled in his hair, and her lips on top of his.

I quickly unpeek and try to stop my racing heart.

_Wh-why is my heart beating so fast?_

_It's because you looooooooooove him._ The voice snickers.

This time, though, I don't say anything back, and only think about is as I slide down the column and sit on the ground with my hands on my head.

"I-I-I'm sorry, Natsu!" I hear her say quietly as she runs past me.

I quickly follow suit so that Natsu doesn't know I was listening. I run home, feeling confused and surprised. The minute I walk into to my room, I curl up on my bed and let everything sink in.

It isn't until I feel strong arms around me and hear the owner of those arms say, "Lucy, don't cry.", that I realize that I'm crying.

I turn and see Natsu's worried face. Much like the one he had when I found out my father had passed away. He knows I'm not going to say anything so he pulls me closer and holds me while I cry.

Why am I crying?

_I wish I knew._


	11. Transformation: Jellal

_*AN: Hey everyone! I'm using a new typing software thingy magigger, so, I sincerely apologize for the shorter chapters. Starting this chapter, I'm hoping to start making them longer! So sit tight, enjoy, and READ ON!_

**Chapter 11**

**~Jellal~**

"You want me to help you do what?" Erza asks again.

"Hunt down a Rogue Transformation Wizard." I answer again.

"And his magic affects others instead of himself?"

"Yeah."

"But women and children aren't affected?"

"No."

"Are animals and objects affected?"

This is a new question, "We don't know."

She nods.

"But his magic affects others."

"Mhmm."

"But I wouldn't be affected because I'm a woman."

I nod.

"But... children aren't affected either..."

"Erza, you've been asking the same questions for a really long time. Just what are you getting at?"

"Romeo and Wendy. Natsu and Lucy." She says simply, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"What about them?" I ask in confusion.

"They're children!" She says triumphantly.

I shake my head, "Erza, I think your definition of 'children' is partially wrong."

She glares, "Are you saying that the four of them aren't children?"

"I said 'partially'," I remind her, "And Romeo and Wendy are children, for sure, but Erza, you're only a couple years older than Lucy, and Natsu... well... he's older than Lucy."

"That's not true." She says.

"You're saying that you're younger than Lucy?"

"No. No one really knows how old Natsu. Today is the 7th. It's been roughly 14 years since he's joined Fairy Tail. That means he's at least 15 since we know that he trained with Igneel before coming to Fairy Tail."

I shake my head, "Right, but he's clearly still older than Lucy. Maybe about Gray's age, which would mean that he's only a year younger than you."

"NO!"

I sigh, "In any case, it doesn't matter. What _does_ matter is if you really think they can help us."

She nods surely, "Of course! Don't underestimate Fairy Tail, Jellal."

I put my hands up in surrender, "I wasn't."

"Good. Now, I'm going to go to the Guild and get them."

"I will wait here." I say.

"No, you will come with me." She corrects.

I sigh, knowing that there is no arguing with her, "Right. Lead the way."

We march through the forest and not too long later, the newly reconstructed Fairy Tail Guild hall stands before us.

"When was this rebuilt?" I ask in confusion.

"I'm not really sure." She says, "Something about rebuilding it for us in honor of our winning at the Grand Magic Games."

I nod as she opens the door, only to see chaos.

Fuming, she stomps in, "WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!"

Immediately, all conversation drops and everyone turns to look at her.

Gajeel sits on the stage, Evergreen and Mirajane talk with Elfman by the bar, Lucy, Natsu, Wendy, and Lisanna are nowhere to be found, and Romeo sits with Levy as they study. I notice how Gajeel glances at them occasionally with envy.

"Erza!" Elfman says in surprise.

Evergreen takes the opportunity to bop him on the head with a rolled up piece of paper from... who knows where.

Mirajane, smiling as always, grabs the paper and tucks it behind the bar. Besides that, the Guild is silent.

"No one answered my question." She states.

Romeo looks up from his studies and says, "We're having a party."

Without looking at him, Levy says, "Shh! Back to your studies."

"Why are we having a party with no cake?" She demands.

I sigh, not the cake again.

"It is not a real party unless there is cake!" She says.

Elfman throws his fist in the air, now recovered from Evergreen's stern bop, "CAKE IS MAN!"

Erza, too, throws her fist in the air, "YES. CAKE IS MAN!"

As if on cue, they all throw their fists in the air and shout, "CAKE IS MAN!"

Mirajane sighs, "Oh dear, I don't think I can make that many cakes in so little time."

Kinana walks up beside her and says, "I'll help!"

And together, they walk away to make some of Erza's "manly cake".

Erza nods triumphantly until I tap her shoulder and say, "We still need to find Wendy, Lucy, Romeo, and Natsu. Have you forgotten?"

She hits her palm with the bottom of her fist, "Of course not. I've already found Romeo!"

She takes my hand and I am dragged to where Romeo and Levy sit.

"Hey, Erza!" She chirps.

"I need Romeo." Erza says.

Levy looks slightly offended, but I don't think that Erza can tell, "I'm trying to give him a lesson right now."

"I need him for a job."

"You have Jellal." Levy says pointing to me, as if I were a normal occurrence in the Guild.

Ignoring me, Erza answers, "But I need Romeo, as well."

Romeo leaps up and says, "A job?! All right, I'm all fired up!"

_'I'm all fired up'? That's something Natsu would say. Come to think of it... he dresses like Natsu a bit, too._

"_That's_ the spirit, Romeo!" Erza cheers.

Levy sighs, "I guess it can't be helped."

"Great!" Erza says. She takes hold of Romeo's collar and drags him out the door.

I apologize to Levy before quickly running after her.

Once we are out of the Guild, Erza asks Romeo, "Where are Natsu, Lucy, and Wendy?"

"Lucy ran out a little while ago. Natsu left a little after she did. And I haven't seen Wendy since she was playing some game with Cana." He answers.

"Was Happy with Natsu?" She asks.

He shakes his head, "I haven't seen much of Happy lately. He's probably at the girls' dorm, though."

Erza frowns, "We must go look for the three of them. The most logical place to look for Wendy would be at Fairy Hills."

"We can't go there." I point out.

"No one is there right now. So long as you don't go trifling through the girls' stuff, they should never know that you were there." She says.

I sigh and follow her as she walks away, Romeo, happily following her.

"Wait a minute. Where's Lisanna?" I ask.

They stop and Romeo thinks for a moment before answering, "I think she was with Natsu for a while, but she ran out just before Lucy did. But come to think of it... I'm pretty sure that I heard Wendy's voice when Lisanna left."

"You heard her voice?" Erza asks, "Even over all that noise?"

He nods, "Of course. One day, when I'm an S-Class Wizard, I'm going to tell her that I love her! I gotta watch out for her in the meantime."

Seeing the serious glint in Erza's eyes, I begin to back away until I hear, "Good for you! Why don't you fight me. Let me see what you can do."

"Erza, you can't be serious about fighting him..." I start.

"ALL RIGHT!" Romeo cheers.

The two back away from eachother. Suddenly, red flames appear in Romeo's hand and he leaps forward, blasting Erza with fire.

Within that same moment, Erza had requipped into her Fire Empress armor, rendering his flames useless. Realizing this, he switches to yellow flames, which even from a distance, I can smell. It doesn't seem to bother Erza, though. She charges forward, requipping into her Sea Empress armor as she does so. At the last minute, I see purple flames dance from Romeo's hand as Erza's sword goes flying away. Seeing an opportunity, Romeo's fire turns blue and he shoots it at Erza, who leaps up, requips into her Flight armor, and holds Romeo in between her swords.

"Good job Romeo." She says, back in her usual armor.

He smiles, clearly exhilarated.

"Watch out for Wendy, and don't let her get hurt." She says, smiling.

He nods happily.


	12. Transformation: Romeo

_*AN: Yes yes yes, I know, the chapters are still short! V_V Eep! I'm really sorry guys! I'm really thankful for those of you who are still reading and bearing with me, and for those of you who are enjoying it. I know that it's not very exciting right now, but I promise, that as the plot progresses, IT WILL GET BETTER! That being said, READ ON! ~AsianNinjaChik_

**Chapter 12**

**~Romeo~**

"Romeo, focus!" Levy scolds.

"I'm sorry, but books are boring." I tell the blunette.

"I'm sorry that you don't like them." She says sarcastically.

"Why do I have to do this?" I complain.

She huffs in frustration, "Because it's important!"

"Important for what? I don't think that," I glance down at the open book in front of me, "knowing about stupid birds will do me any good. Besides, there's a party going on."

"A Parabis is _not_ a 'stupid bird'. In fact, they're one of the smartest living creatures in existence. That means smarter than people, Romeo. And you can enjoy the party when you're done."

"So? It's just a bird." I say stubbornly, "And I could be enjoying the party right now." I add.

"A bird that could kill someone." She says, ignoring the last part of my statement.

"A stupid bird could never hurt anyone."

"You're right." She says in what I think is admittance, "A stupid bird can't, but a smart bird can."

"Fine. Tell me how, then." I demand.

She frowns and point at a paragraph in the book that reads:

_A Parabis is an extremely rare bird. They were hunted hundreds of years ago, not for their feathers, but because they were flying rampant and destroying villages. The feathers of a Parabis are thinly coated in a toxin that can kill anything, or anyone that touches it. Not, only that, but a Parabis has small tooth-like ridges on its beak that's used for crunching small mammals. Its claws are deathly sharp, and strong enough to puncture the strongest of steel. It has the ability to mimic any sound or voice it hears, which is how it lures it prey or enemies._

"Still think it's a stupid bird?" Levy asks, noting that I've finished reading.

"I guess not..." I grumble.

She opens her mouth to say something more, but the Guild door is slammed open and Erza marches in with Jellal behind her.

Fuming, she stomps in, "WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!"

Immediately, all conversation drops and everyone turns to look at her.

"Erza!" Elfman says in surprise.

I watch Evergreen take the opportunity to bop him on the head with a rolled up piece of paper. I wait for Erza to scold her, but it never happens, to my disappointment.

"No one answered my question." She states.

I look up from the stupid book and say, "We're having a party."

Without looking at me, Levy says, "Shh! Back to your studies."

"Why are we having a party with no cake?" Erza demands, "It is not a real party unless there is cake!"

Elfman throws his fist in the air, now recovered from Evergreen's stern bop, "CAKE IS MAN!"

Erza, too, throws her fist in the air, "YES. CAKE IS MAN!"

As if on cue, we all throw their fists in the air and shout, "CAKE IS MAN!"

"Hey, Erza!" Levy says as Erza walk over to us, dragging Jellal.

"I need Romeo." Erza says.

Levy looks slightly offended, but Erza seems not to notice, "I'm trying to give him a lesson right now."

"I need him for a job."

"You have Jellal." Levy says pointing to him.

"But I need Romeo, as well."

I leap up, "A job?! All right, I'm all fired up!"

"_That's_ the spirit, Romeo!" Erza cheers.

Levy sighs, "I guess it can't be helped."

"Great!" Erza says. She takes hold of my collar and drags me out the door as Jellal apologizes to Levy before quickly running after her.

Once we are out of the Guild, Erza asks mr, "Where are Natsu, Lucy, and Wendy?"

"Lucy ran out a little while ago. Natsu left a little after she did. And I haven't seen Wendy since she was playing some game with Cana." I answer, trying to hide my disappointment about the last part.

"Was Happy with Natsu?" She asks.

I shake my head, "I haven't seen much of Happy lately. He's probably at the girls' dorm, though."

Erza frowns, "We must go look for the three of them. The most logical place to look for Wendy would be at Fairy Hills."

"We can't go there." Jellal points out.

"No one is there right now. So long as you don't go trifling through the girls' stuff, they should never know that you were there." She says.

I follow Erza as she begins the trek to Fairy Hills.

"Wait a minute. Where's Lisanna?" Jellal asks.

We turn, "I think she was with Natsu for a while, but she ran out just before Lucy did. But come to think of it... I'm pretty sure that I heard Wendy's voice when Lisanna left." I think back to then.

"You heard her voice?" Erza asks, "Even over all that noise?"

I nod and shamelessly say, "Of course. One day, when I'm an S-Class Wizard, I'm going to tell her that I love her! I gotta watch out for her in the meantime."

"Good for you! Why don't you fight me. Let me see what you can do." Erza says.

"Erza, you can't be serious about fighting him..." Jellal says.

"ALL RIGHT!" I say.

The fight starts once we're both standing a few feet from eachother. I bring red flames to my palms and launch them at her.

Within that same moment, Erza had requipped into her Fire Empress armor, rendering them useless. Realizing this, I switch to my smelly yellow flames, but they don't seem to bother her. She charges forward, requipping into her Sea Empress armor as she does so. At the last minute, I switch to my sticky purple flames dance and launch them at her oncoming sword. I grin as it goes flying away. Seeing an opportunity, my fire turns blue and I shoots it at Erza, who leaps up, requips into her Flight armor, and comes down, trapping me between her swords.

"Good job Romeo." She says, back in her usual armor.

I smile.

"Watch out for Wendy, and don't let her get hurt." She says, smiling.

He nods happily.

"That being said," Jellal says, "Someone should go look for her."

"I'll do it!" I say.

I see Erza smile, "Of course you will. In the meantime, Jellal and I will go look for Natsu and Lucy."

As they walk away, I think for a minute.

_What would Natsu do if he were looking for Lucy?He would sniff her out! _I stick my nose in the air and smell... Air. _Okay, no good. I can't smell like he can... What else would he do? He'd go to her house, but that's out of the question for me, he'd... Hmm... He'd just look around for her. _Not quite paying attention to where my feet led me, I ruled out the places that she could, and couldn't, be. She couldn't be at the Guild, on a job, or at Fairy Hills because Lisanna stays with Elfman and Mirajane and wouldn't be there.

When I look up, I realize that I'm behind the Guild where everyone goes to train in their free time. But right now, it's barren except for Wendy and Lisanna.

"Wendy!" I call.

She looks up and smiles sweetly, "Hey, Romeo!"

"Hey, Lisanna-" I begin to say until I notice that she's crying, "Is this a bad time."

Lisanna shakes her head and stands up, "No, no. Do you need Wendy for something?"

I nod.

"Well, Wendy, you should go with them, I'll be alright. Thank you, though, for being here." Lisanna says.

Wendy takes my hand and leads be back around to the front of the Guild, leaving Lisanna.

"I'm sorry I interrupted something..." I say.

Wendy shakes her head, "It's okay. You didn't really interrupt anything. She was just feeling kinda down because Natsu doesn't feel the same about her."

"The same?"

"Yeah. She really loves him. I feel kinda bad for her."

"Lisanna loves Natsu, huh?" I say starting walk.

"Yeah. What about you, Romeo?" She asks, following me.

"Huh? What about me?"

"Do you love anyone?"

I smile with determination, "Yeah!"

She seems genuinely curious as she asks, "Who?"

I'm tempted to tell her, but remember the promise I made to myself, "I can't say."

"Why not?"

"I promised myself that I'd tell her when I became an S-Class Wizard!"

"Why wait?" Wendy asks.

"Because I want to be strong. I want to be able to protect her."

"What if she doesn't need protecting?"

Her question forces me to think. Looking up, I realize that I've led us to the park, "Even if she doesn't need protecting..."

"Hmmm?"

"I don't know." I admit in defeat while plopping down on the soft grass.

She sits down next to me, "We should talk more."

I look at her in surprise, "Wh-wh-what?"

"We are in the same Guild, after all. I feel like we should talk more."

I feel myself nod in agreement.

"And, we're friends, right?" She adds.

I feel myself nod again.

With a sly grin, she takes one of my hands and asks, "So who is it?"

I snatch my hand away, "I already told you that I can't say!"

"Because you're going to tell her when you're an S-Class Wizard." She finishes for me.

I nod, "Yeah..."

"You know... I don't think that she'd care if you're an S-Class Wizard or not." She says as if she knows.

_Wait a minute... MAYBE SHE KNOWS. _I quickly look away in embarrassment. As I hear her giggle, I sneak peek and then look away again.

"Maybe she doesn't." I agree, still not looking at her.

"I, personally, wouldn't mind if my mate wasn't S-Class." She says as if talking to herself.

"Mate?" I ask, looking at her.

She nods, "I hear Natsu and Gajeel talking about it from time to time. Even Grandine had brought it up a few times. Apparently, Dragons and Dragon Slayers only find love once in their lifetime."

"Have you found your... mate?" I ask hesitantly.

She pulls her knees toward her and places her chin on them, "Yeah, but I don't think he cares about me like that."

On impulse, I lean over and hug her, "Then he's stupid."

"Is he?" She asks, "Why would he love me? I can't really fight, and the only thing I'm good at is healing people up. But when it comes down to it, in a fight, I probably wouldn't win. Even in my fight with Sherry. She was going easy on me."

I've never seen Wendy like this. She seems vulnerable and fragile like she's about to break. I feel helpless as I see small tears trickle down her face. I don't know what to do, if I should do anything, or what to say, if I should even say anything.

I lean over and whisper in her ear, "I love you... Wendy Marvell."

She turns and looks me in the eye and wraps her small arms around me, "I love you, too, Romeo."


	13. Transformation: Mirajane

_*AN: I know, I know! Am I not updating fast enough to please you guys? I think once a day, and sometimes twice, is a pretty fair amount c; In any case, time for some ElfGreen and LaMi development c: So, READ ON! ~AsianNinjaChik*_

**Chapter 13**

**~Mirajane~**

"I wonder what Erza is up to this time." Evergreen says to Elfman.

"She's being a MAN!" He cheers.

This earns him a bop on the head from Ever's fan, "Now, now, Evergreen." I coo.

Laxus comes to sit next to Elfman and says to me, "Where's the cake?"

In an effort to hide my confusion, I ask, "Is Erza rubbing off on you?"

Elfman looks at Laxus and says, "ERZA IS TURNING HIM INTO A MAN!" Which earns him yet another bop from Ever's fan.

He shakes his head and ignores Elfman's comment, "No, I'm just really hungry."

On the outside, I smile, but on the inside, I grin evilly, "Sorry, Laxus, but Kinana told me to mind the bar while she works on the cakes. If you want, you and I can go back there and let her take over."

Lazily, he waves his hand, "Sure, sure."

He gets up and starts toward the kitchen as I turn to Evergreen and Elfman and say, "Ever, you're in charge of the bar until Kinana comes."

Without waiting for her response, I follow Laxus.

_I wonder... When will Cana get back from Sabertooth? I'm quite anxious to see the guys' faces when they see her 'Cards of Love'. Maybe then, Laxus will finally tell me that he loves__me._

"Mira!" He calls.

It's not until then that I realized I had stopped walking. _Silly me!, "_Coming, Laxus."

When we get to the kitchen, Kinana is pulling a cake out of the oven, "Mira, Laxus! I've just finished making the third cake, but I think we'll need a whole lot more..."

"Don't worry about it, Kinana. We got it! You can go manage the bar." I say.

She smiles as she walks by and says, "Have fun, you two!" And then quietly to me, "Good luck."

The look on his face tells me that he heard her quiet remark. I decide not to make a big deal and set to work in reorganizing the materials into a fashion that better suits me. When I'm done reorganizing, I turn and see Laxus casually leaning against the counter.

"Laxus."

He slightly stiffens, "Yeah?"

"Where are the cakes?"

He, now, visibly stiffens, "Th-th-the cakes?"

I know where they are. I know that there should be three, but that there's only two. I also know that he ate one of them. I sigh, "I don't know what to do with you sometimes..."

I see think about the possible turnouts of the situation. He sighs and mumbles, "They're right there."

Smiling sweetly to mask my devilish grin, I ask, "And why is there only two?"

He doesn't meet my eyes and grumbles, "I was hungry."

Pretending not to hear, I say, "You what?"

"I was hungry." A little louder.

"Laxus, I can't hear you over all the noise outside." I tease.

Being as thick-headed as he is, he doesn't realize that I've already heard him, "I SAID I WAS HUNGRY!"

A little of the noise from the Hall dies down and Laxus turns slightly pink.

Kinana pokes her head in and asks, "Are you two okay in here?"

"Just fine!" I say with a smile.

"I've brought these two to help you guys." She says as Elfman and Evergreen walk in.

"I know that cooking is Fried's thing, but I can still help." Evergreen says.

"Cooking is _MAN!_" Elfman roars, earning him _another_ bop from Evergreen.

Kinana begins to retreat saying, "Well, I'll just leave it to the four of you, then!"

"We're glad to have you two here to help!" I say, "Aren't we?"

When Laxus says nothing, I secretly elbow him, "Uh-huh. The more the merrier."

They look at eachother, clearly disbelieving, until I say to Evergreen, "C'mon, I'm going to show you what to do."

She starts to resist, but thinks better of it and comes to the counter with me, leaving the two manly men to sort out their problems.

"I need you to go get the biggest bowl you can from over there." I instruct while pointing to the bowls and other kitchen tools.

"This is the flour, we're going to need a lot of this." I say when she comes back, pointing to the large bag of fluffy white powder.

"Don't you think this bowl is a little too big?" Evergreen asks, struggling to find a good grip on it, "Come to think of it... ISN'T EVERYTHING THAT YOU'VE SET OUT TOO BIG?!"

"I'll take the bowl, and every thing is just the right size!"

I take the bowl from her and put it on the floor before turning to Elfman and Laxus and saying, "You two can eat those to cakes, if you want."

Laxus shoots me a questioning glance, but doesn't say anything as Elfman devours one cake within the minute, "HEY. SPLIT THE LAST ONE!" He shouts as Elfman moves onto the next one.

"Why did you let them eat the cakes?" Evergreen asks me curiously.

"Because we're going to make three bigger ones." I explain.

She shrugs, "Alright, so... what's first?"

"Flour." I pick up the large bag flour and pour all of it into the bowl.

I turn to Laxus, "Could you go to the fridge and get out one of the really big milk jugs and pour it in here?" To Elfman, "Could you get two cartons of eggs and give them to Evergreen?" As they set to work, I say to Evergreen, "Take the eggs over there to the sink, and split the eggs whites and the yolks."

Elfman runs up to Evergreen with the two cartons of eggs, "Here you go!"

"The least you could do is help me out a bit..." She says.

While she drags him off to work, Laxus stands doing nothing.

"Laxus, didn't I tell you to get the milk?"

"Yeah, but I can't seem to get the lid off."

I walk over to the jug and easily pop the lid off, "You can pour it in, now."

He lifts it up with no trouble and pours it in as I go to retrieve four large stirring spoons. By the time I am back, the last drops of milk are dripping in.

"Here, you can help stir, now." I say, giving him a spoon.

He reluctantly takes it and stands on a stool in order to mix the contents of the bowl.

_Isn't this something a couple would do? Bake a cake together? _I can't help but giggle softly.

"I dunno what's so funny," He says, hearing me, "But at least you could help me stir."

I step on a stool and help him stir. As I look over at Elfman and Evergreen, I notice that they're almost done with separating the eggs.

"When you two are done, you can pour them in and help us stir!" I say.

Evergreen stops and gives me thumbs up before returning to her task while Elfman does nothing.

"Elfman, get to work!" She orders.

"Y-Y-Yes!" He stutters.

I giggle again. Laxus raises his eyebrows, "Honestly, what's so funny, I don't get it..."

I simply shake my head and keep stirring. Clearly unamused, he humphs and stirs faster. Casually, I, too, begin stirring faster. Noticing this, he started stirring even faster.

"Is that a challenge?" I ask with a glint in my eyes.

"You're on, Mira." He says.

But before we can really get mixing, Elfman walks over with his large bowl of egg whites and pours them in. Evergreen slyly stands by me and says to Laxus, "I need to steal her for a minute."

He hesitates before saying, "Sure, whatever." I can't help but feel a twinge of anger that he didn't want to finish our challenge.

"So...?"

"So what?" I ask.

"How's it going?"

"It's pretty good! But, I am a bit tired come to think of it..."

"Not your day!" She snaps, "You and Laxus."

"Oh!" I exclaim, feigning unknowingness.

"Honestly, Mira. What am I supposed to do with you?"

"Well. I'm fine with things progressing at the rate that they are."

"I have an idea!" She says, ignoring my previous statement, "You and Laxus should go out for lunch or something!"

"Uhm... I don't think that's a good idea. Besides, we're still making the cake."

"Then you two should go out and by some ingredients."

"But we have ingredients."

"Do we have strawberries?"

I shake my head, "No..."

"Then go buy some strawberries."

"Bu-"

Before I can protest, Evergreen grabs Laxus by the collar and pushes us both out of the kitchen, "Remember, STRAWBERRIES!"

"What the hell?" Laxus mutters.

"Oh, Evergreen just wanted us to buy strawberries for the cake... But I think she just wants to be alone with Elfman!" I joke, trying to cover up her real intent.

He grins, "THATTA GIRL! In _that_ case," He says while gently pushing me toward the door, "We should take our time."

"But... we're just buying strawberries."

"Well... we could... get other... stuff." He awkwardly stutters.

_Is he asking me out on a date?!, _"Sure, why not!" I say, giggling.

_*AN: I know, what an incredibly boring chapter. Don't worry, it's important c;*_


	14. Transformation: Natsu 2

_*AN: Welp, this is progressing painfully slow. Rejoice, though! For this chapter is going to be long and it's going to hopefully make some things make sense!__Anyway, on to the next chapter, READ ON! ~AsianNinjaChik *_

**Chapter 14**

**~Natsu~**

Lisanna's lips leave mine.

"I-I-I'm sorry, Natsu." She says quietly. Without a second glance, she turns and runs out of the Guild. I catch Wendy's scent as a draft drifts past me. Before I can question what I just smelled, another familiar scent catches my attention.

_Lucy? _I follow it until I smell it especially strong behind a column. Realization hits me, "She must've heard that conversation..."

I don't know why, but for some reason, that really bothers me. I look up in time to see her blonde pigtails whisk out the door. My body seems to move on its own as I begin to run after her. After some time, I stand in front of her house. Being me, I jump up and land on her window sill, just in time to see her hurry in and curl up on her bed.

Before I can process it, I've opened her window, quietly closed it shut once I'm in, and have wrapped my arms around her shaking body.

She turns to look at me with tears streaming down her face. Not knowing what else to do, I pull her closer and whisper, "Please don't cry.", but I don't think she hears.

She continues to tremble until it gradually stops. When I look down, I realize that she's fallen asleep. I begin to unwrap my arms in preparation to leave, but she grabs my shirt. Startled, I look back down and see that she's still asleep.

"Don't leave." She whispers.

Knowing that she can't hear me, I say back, "I will never leave."

I swear I see a smile play across her face as I say this, but right now, I'm too confused to pay it any attention.

"_Do you love her?" Lisanna asks. _I frown, remembering the conversation that had happened a mere hour ago. Love? _What a weird word. What is it like to love someone? _During this troubling think-session, my mind flashes back to my time spent with Gemini-Lucy. Gemini had asked me if I thought Lucy was pretty or not. Thinking back, I realize that I had lied. The first time Gemini asked, I had said yes, same with the second time, but when she didn't believe me, I had said that I answered that way because that's how she wanted me to answer. But was that really true? _Maybe she didn't care what I said... Maybe she just wanted me__to be honest. Do I think that Lucy's pretty? _I ask myself. I look at her sleeping figure, _Yeah, she's pretty. _

_Why did I tell Gemini that I was lying? _I ask, becoming slightly annoyed.

My face is inches from hers, and my stare intense as I try to figure the mess in my head out, when she groggily opens her eyes.

"GOOD MORNING!" I say, all troubling thoughts gone.

She quickly sits up, "Morning?"

I scratch the back of my head, "Nah, but it'll be sunset, soon."

She nods and sits quietly for a minute before whispering oh-so quietly, "Thank you."

I know she knows that I hear it, "For what?"

She crawls into my lap and hugs me, "For being here for me. For _always _being there. For helping me. For saving me all those times. For everything, really. But mostly, for being you."

I admit that I'm confused, but my pride gets the best of me, so I say, "For being me?"

"Yeah. I couldn't ask for a better partner than you."

For some reason, this causes me to feel fuzzy inside, "Really?"

She nods.

Then, "Oh she won't care. Natsu barges into her house _all _then time!"

"Erza!" Lucy says sitting up straight.

"See, I told you!" A very smug looking Erza says to a very apologetic looking Jellal.

Then, noticing me on her bed, Erza says, "OH! So you're both here! Excellent! Lucy, a quick word?"

Lucy gets up and walks over to Erza who drags her out into the hallway for a secret girly conversation.

"You two don't seem to have changed much." Jellal remarks.

I frown, "It's only been a month or two since you last saw us."

"I didn't mean that... I meant... Oh never mind."

"Tell me."

He shakes his head, "It's nothing, really."

I frown harder, "Tell me."

"I meant your progress with eachother."

"I dunno, I think it's coming a long fine!"

"Really? Good for you, then!" He says, clapping.

I nod, "She's almost completely mastered the whip!"

He seems to almost fall when I say this, "That's not-... That's great!"

I grin.

"So, rumor on the streets is that Dragons and Dragon Slayers only ever love once." He says while sitting down next to me.

I narrow my eyes, "Why would people on the streets be talking about Dragons and Dragon Slayers?"

He shakes his head, "It's an expression..."

"Oh... Well, yeah, it's true."

"Must be nice."

Confused, I ask, "What must be nice?"

"Not having to worry about something like that. Being able to live your life knowing that there is only one person meant for you."

"Just because that's the only person for you, doesn't mean that you're the only one for them."

"I suppose that's true." He say sighing, "So does that mean you've met yours, and she's rejected you?"

"Huh? No. Well, I dunno. I might have already met her, and I might not have. It's hard to say."

He looks at me curiously, "You mean... you don't know?"

I shrug, "I don't really know how it works. I guess it's kinda like the thing where everyone knows that you two are together, even though it's not a real thing. A Dragon or Dragon Slayer's mate has to be claimed. So, until she's claimed, she isn't my mate, and the only person that I _can _claim is her. It's really complicated, so I kind of ignore it."

"Ignore it?"

"Yeah, it's kinda like this weird tug telling me to check every single girl I see to decide if she's my mate or not."

"That's some scary imagery." He mutters.

"Eh?"

"N-nothing. So what do you do once you've figured out who it is?" He asks, seeming genuinely.

I frown, "Not really sure. I kinda tuned out at this part when Igneel was telling me about it."

"Not surprising."

"I do remember him saying something about it having to do with my instincts and claiming her."

"That's an important lesson, why would you tune out?"

"I don't really care about that kinda stuff."

"Is that so?"

I nod, when a sudden flash of brilliance hits me, "It's kinda like your relationship with Erza! If you were a Dragon, everyone would know that you've claimed her and that she is yours alone."

This causes him to turn red, "Wh-what?"

"Mhmm!"

"Well, in that case, you've clearly 'claimed' Lucy." He says.

"Nah! We're just partners!" I say grinning.

But a little voice tugs at me, _Nope nope nope. You've definitely claimed her, you little sly one, you. _

I shake it off and laugh at Jellal who looks at me like I've grown wings or something.

It's just then that a laughing Erza walks in with a red Lucy, "Alright, get ready to head out!"

"Eh?" I ask, confused.

"We came to ask you two for help." Jellal explains.

"We need you two for a mission." Erza finishes.

Lucy shakes her head, "Nuh-uh. Natsu and I are going on a job. Ask someone else."

"What job?" Erza says, "Maybe we can do your before ours."

Lucy takes a piece of paper out her the small bag she always has with her and hands it to Erza.

" 'Save my Bird'." She reads aloud. Then squinting, she points at a picture, "Do you know what that is?"

"It's a bird?"

"Not just any bird. It's a Parabis." She explains.

"A Parabis?" Lucy asks.

"Aren't they some kind of deadly bird or something?" I ask.

"Yeah." Erza nods.

Lucy walks over to her bookshelf and pulls out a book titled: Everything About Birds.

She reads aloud: "_A Parabis is an extremely rare bird. They were hunted hundreds of years ago, not for their feathers, but because they were flying rampant and destroying villages. The feathers of a Parabis are thinly coated in a toxin that can kill anything, or anyone that touches it. Not, only that, but a Parabis has small tooth-like ridges on its beak that's used for crunching small mammals. Its claws are deathly sharp, and strong enough to puncture the strongest of steel. It has the ability to mimic any sound or voice it hears, which is how it lures it prey or enemies. This also means that they make for good ways of remembering things or recording messages.__"_

Her face goes pale, "Why would someone want us to save a bird like this?"

Erza looks at Jellal, "Sound familiar?"

He nods, "You see, we're looking for a Rogue Transformation Wizard. His magic, though, affects others instead of himself. For whatever reason, though, women and children are immune to his magic. The only lead that I've gotten on him in the weeks of hunting him down was that he has a Parabis."

"What does this have to do with anything?" I ask in confusion.

Lucy's face lightens as she connects the puzzle pieces that I can't see, "They can record messages... He wants us to bring it to our Guild..."

It suddenly hits me, "HE WANTS TO BE PART OF OUR GUILD!"

They all stop and look at me, "No, Natsu." Erza says, "He wants to spy on our Guild."

"The best thing we can do is go with it. It's the best lead we have, after all." Jellal says.

Lucy frowns, "I feel like there's something so much bigger going on."

"I do, too." Erza says.

"Why don't we get more people to help? I have a feeling that Lucy is right. What if we get Laxus, Elfman, Mirajane, and Evergreen, along with these two and Romeo and Wendy?"

Erza nods, "That's not a bad idea... But, I think that too many people will draw too much attention. If anything, they could do some undercover work."

Finally, all in agreement, we leave Lucy's house with more than just troubling thoughts on our mind. We take a pitstop by the market to pick up some food before leaving to find Romeo and Wendy, as well as the house mentioned on the job flyer. On our way out, we bump into two people on their way in.

"Mirajane! Laxus." Erza greets.

I notice her tone change when she greets Laxus and I can't help but snicker. Luckily, no one notices.

"I have something to ask of you." She says.

"What is it?" Mirajane asks.

"We're looking for a Rogue Transformation Wizard." He explains, "We finally have a good lead on him, but could you keep your eyes and ears open?"

"Will do!" Mirajane says.

Laxus holds a finger up, "Isn't Cana at Sabertooth? We should ask her to keep an eye out, too."

"That's a good idea!" Mirajane says, reaching into her pack to retrieve a calling card that Cana gave to everyone.

"Hold on. Why is Cana at Sabertooth?" Jellal asks.

Mirajane and Lucy exchange a knowing glance. At first, Erza seems confused, but suddenly, she joins them. Jellal looks at me and Laxus with a blank look that we both return.

"Never mind that," Erza says, "Let's just call her."

We three guys simply shrug and watch as Mirajane holds out the card.

It rings for a moment before, "Mira?! Is that you?"

"Yeah." She says.

"So, I may have gotten myself into some trouble..." She starts.

"More like a lot of trouble." A masculine voice says.

"Shut up, Sting. At least I was sober." She snaps.

"In any case, we're trapped." Another masculine voice says.

"Rogue, it's rude to listen in on other people's conversations!" A sweet voice scolds.

"Whatever, lovebirds." Cana says, "But yeah. We're trapped."

"Can't you get yourself out?" Laxus asks.

I can see Cana roll her eyes on the receiving end of the card, "We have two Dragon Slayers, me, and Yukino. If we could get ourselves out, we would've already done it."

"What are you doing with Sabertooth?" I ask.

"Natsu?" Sting asks.

"Yeah."

"There's some kind of magic protecting the cage. We can't touch it." Yukino explains.

"Cage?" Lucy asks.

"Lucy?" Cana asks, "Looks like the whole gang is here! Anyway, yeah. The four of us are trapped in a cage. But we're not the only ones, either. There are other people trapped in other cages here."

"How many other people?" Erza asks with a frown.

Cana doesn't seem surprised to hear Erza as she says, "It's hard to say. We've talked to the people here. Some have been here as long as we have, and some have been down here longer. But they all say that no one stays longer than two days."

"Could this have something to do with the Rogue Wizard?" Lucy asks.

"It's possible, but unlikely." Jellal says.

"Oh, Jellal is there, too?" Cana asks, "Say, Jellal, during your travels, have you encountered a very pink tavern run by a pudgy little rude man?"

His eyes widen, "Run by a what?"

"A pudgy little rude man." She says.

"What did he look like?" Jellal asks frantically.

"He's kinda plump... and he has purple hair that looks like an ice-cream cone, kinda." She says.

"No, more like a tree." Sting says from the background.

"Ice-cream cone, tree, whatever." She snaps.

"What's the tavern called?" Jellal asks.

We all look at eachother in confusion.

"It's the 'Tavern of Love.'" Yukino answers.

Jellal mouths 'Tavern of Love' a few times before saying, "Did you get the man's name?"

"No..." Cana says.

Jellal looks at Erza, "He's the one we're looking for... I'm sure of it."

"Is there anything else you can tell us about where you are?" Lucy asks.

This time it's Rogue who answers, "We're in the town outside of Sabertooth. There's a pink tavern, but my guess is that we were transported somewhere. There are torches everywhere so that we can see, and it's quite clear that we're underground. If anything, there are huge matching locks on all of the cages. It'd take one hell of a key to open them."

"Is there anything else?" I ask.

There's a pause, and then Yukino says, "I think I can hear water."

"And footsteps!" Cana adds, "We have to go." And the connection is cut off.

Erza and Laxus make eye contact and nod, "Laxus, Mirajane, I need you two to gather some people and go look for this tavern. We're going to go look after another lead we have."

With a nod, the discussion is broken up and a dark cloud seems to hang over us as we look for Romeo and Wendy.


	15. Behind the Scenes - Lucy

_*AN: I'm sure that a lot of you are wondering what Erza said to Lucy that last chapter... So, here's a nice, short itty bitty chapter for some comic relief c: Enjoy, and READ ON! ~AsianNinjaChik*_

**Chapter 15**

**~Lucy~**

"Lucy, a quick word?" Erza says after barging into my home unannounced.

I nod and follow her out into the hallway.

"Lisanna was with Natsu earlier." She says once she's closed the door.

"I know." I say, not caring that she knows or how she knows.

"You do?"

"Yeah."

"Are you not at least a little curious as to what they were doing together? I mean, he is your perfect match, after all."

This time, I don't deny it, "I know what they were doing together."

"You know?!"

"Well, I saw, at least."

"Saw what?" She asks curiously.

"Well, I saw Lisanna kiss him." I answer bluntly.

If she'd been drinking something, it would've spewed out her nose as I say this.

"She kissed him?!"

I don't get what's so funny, but then again, it's Erza, "Yeah."

She regains composure, "I'm sorry. I can imagine how tough it must be for you."

"Tough?" I ask.

She nods as if she knows something that I don't, "Having to lie to yourself."

"What am I lying to myself about?"

"Your feelings for Natsu."

I know I'm red when she says this, "Wh-wh-what do you mean?"

She sighs, "I had this talk with Gray at the Grand Magic Games. I suppose it won't hurt to tell you something similar."

"You had this talk with _Gray_?"

She ignores my question, "Once you stop lying to yourself, you can stop lying to him. And then, your life can progress."

"I'm not lying to anyone."

"Lucy, do you care about Natsu?"

"Yeah, he's my partner."

"Do you have feelings for him?"

"Definitely not."

"Really?"

"Yup. He's the best partner I could have. I mean, I couldn't have asked for a better one."

"And you have no feelings for him?"

"It's not like he would have feelings for me..." I say.

"Oh?"

"I mean, even if I did." I quickly add.

She slaps me, hard, on the back, "Whatever you say, Lucy! Enjoy your single life!"

"I DON'T LOVE HIM OR ANYTHING!"


	16. Transformation: Gray 2

_*AN: I bet you guys enjoyed that almost 400 word chapter right there. :3 In any case, we haven't really heard much from GruVia lately, have we? We all know how Juvia feels, so let's have another Gray chapter shall we? Well, let's get on with it then? READ ON! ~AsianNinjaChik*_

_PS: SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING YESTERDAY! I HAD NO TIME ;-; Finals are next week and ewwhhhh._

_PPS: A big portion of this chapter is Juvia's past. MOST OF IT (except for what she revealed to us during the Phantom Lord Arc) is MADE UP. I just feel like we don't know enough about her past, so I was like, "WHY NOT?!" Just a little warning so you guys don't flip out on me! Sorry if you don't like that kind of stuff ._

**Chapter 16**

**~Gray~**

I stare at the glowing letters that Juvia wrote in the air, "These birds are smarter than people."

I take the pen back and write, "So?"

"It's a Parabis." She writes back.

Realization clicks inside my mind, "What's so bad about them? You're acting like it can kill us. I know they can mimic sounds, but it's not like one can kill us."

Her faces hardens into one much like the one she had back when she was in Phantom Lord as she writes, "It's part of the past that I've tried so hard to forget."

_I? She never refers to herself as "I". _I take her hand and pull us outside the house where I pull her into my arms in an embrace. It's a moment before she returns the hug and the sobs begin.

_Tears? What do I do? WHAT DO I DO? D-d-do I cry with her? No... Maybe I just... Tell her to stop? No, she'd just cry harder... WHAT DO I DO? _I look down at her, feeling as helpless as I'd felt during the time spent at Galuna Island dealing with Deliora. But this is a different kind of helplessness. The kind of helplessness where you know something's wrong. You know you can do something. Yet you don't do anything. Because you don't know what to do. It's a battle that you can't win. No matter how hard you try. It's an impossible fight. But you can't give up. Not when you know that people are counting on you.

"Juvia is sorry, Gray..." She says into my shirt.

I hold her by her shoulders an arm's length away from me, "You don't need to be sorry, Juvia."

The tears are few now. Her chest no longer heaving with each shaky breath. Her small hand covers her mouth and she tries not to look at me. The helplessness surges through me, stronger than ever, and I drop to the sandy beach.

"It was a few months before I joined Phantom Lord." She starts, sitting down across from me, "Well, I guess it actually started before then..."

_There it is again. "I". The only time she ever referred to herself as "I" was back when she was in Phantom Lord... _I look up and notice that her face is still hardened into the same emotionless face she had when we first met.

"I was walking in a park... Alone, because everyone thought my rain was 'gloomy'. I was approached by a tall figure... A woman, alone like me. She was nice, and asked why I was alone in the rain. I told her that I _was_ the rain, and the rain was me. I told her that no one wanted to come near me. She told me that she felt the same way, and she took me home with her. She told me that she really wanted to take care of me, but she couldn't, unless I was willing to do things for her." She stops, as if the memory is too much, which it may be.

"What about your parents?"

She looks away, "They died before any of this happened."

It isn't until she says that that I realize how little about her past anyone at Fairy Tail knows, "Oh..."

She recovers quickly, from that blow at least, "It's okay."

"So, what did she make you do?" I ask in hopes of getting her mind off of her parents.

"She gave Juvia a Parabis. She told Juvia to take care of it. She made Juvia love the thing. Juvia had grown really attached to it. Juvia named it Paras. And then, she told Juvia that Juvia had to let people 'borrow' Paras."

She pauses and I notice that she reverted back to talking about herself in third person, " 'Borrow'?" I ask.

She nods, "Juvia said okay to her and gave Paras to someone to borrow. This first person to borrow it was an old Wizard named Dumbledalf who wore a weird dark purple robe. When Juvia showed Paras to him, he was mad. He told Juvia never to bring 'that thing' any where near him. Juvia was afraid that he hurt Paras's feelings, so Juvia gave Paras to the Wizard and told him not to bring it back until he was done with it. So, a few days passed, and the lady came home with Paras. Juvia was confused. 'Why did she bring Paras back?' Juvia asked. The lady said, 'Because Dumbledalf was done with it.' Juvia was okay with that answer, and was really happy that Paras was back. But when Juvia was bringing him into her room, Juvia saw something in Paras's claw. Juvia was curious and took a closer look. In Paras's claw, Juvia found some dark purple fabric stained with blood. Scared, Juvia ran to the nice lady and asked, 'Why is this here? Did Paras kill that Wizard?' The nice lady told Juvia, 'Yes, Paras did kill that Wizard, but it's okay, because that Wizard was a bad man. You and Paras helped get rid of him.' When Juvia heard this, she was happy and asked the lady, 'Are there any more bad people that Paras can get rid of?' The lady smiled and told Juvia, 'There is. His name is Harrdo Poggins.' Juvia went to find him with Paras and left him with the bad man. A few days later, the lady came home with Paras, and Juvia cleaned his feathers. After, Juvia asked the lady again if there were bad people. The lady would always say yes, and Juvia and Paras would go find the bad person and quickly kill them."

She notices my slightly horrified expression and she stops to let me ask, "You killed all those people?"

She looks away, "Yes. But, when Juvia was young, Juvia thought that she was doing the right thing, and getting rid of bad people. But one day, when the lady wasn't home, Juvia snuck into her bedroom. In the lady's bedroom, Juvia found pictures of all the people that Paras killed. Then, while Juvia was looking at the pictures, Juvia found a big group picture and saw that the lady was friends with all these people. When the lady came home, Juvia showed her the picture and asked the lady why she was killing her friends. The lady was not mad at Juvia for snooping, and told Juvia that her friends all left her and that they were all bad people. Juvia was curious and asked the lady why her friends left her. The lady didn't like that question, but still told Juvia, 'Because they didn't understand.' Juvia didn't know what they didn't understand, but Juvia did know that the lady was the bad one. Juvia called Paras into the room. The lady didn't know what was going on, so Juvia told her, 'Your friends were not the bad ones. You are.' And Juvia made Paras attack the lady."

"You killed her... without ever knowing her name?" I ask.

She hesitates, "Juvia knew- Yes. Juvia made Paras kill her."

I look at her, and for the first time in the past hour, she looks me in the eyes. The pain they hold is unbearable, and I know that there is something that she's not telling me. I feel the urge to pry, but I decide not to, knowing that it was hard for her to open up to me like that.

"What happened to Paras?" A voice asks from behind me.

Juvia seems unsurprised, as if she knew that there was someone behind me, "Juvia ran away. Juvia never saw Paras again..."

I turn and see Erza, Jellal, Lucy, Natsu, Romeo, and Wendy standing behind me. Romeo and Wendy hold hands, Erza's face is stern, Jellal looks almost scared, Lucy seems to be thinking hard and Natsu... well, Natsu is Natsu.

"What's going on?" I ask.

"There's something big going on." Lucy says.

"It's bigger than I could've ever imagined." Jellal adds.

They begin telling me and Juvia the things that happened within the past day. When they're done, Juvia is clinging to my arm and I grab fistfulls of the loose sand. The sunset shimmers over the beach and casts an eerie glow on all of our sullen faces.

I close my eyes and shudder as the feeling of helplessness returns.

*_AN: SORRY for it being late! At any rate, I'm thinking about making Juvia's past into a one-shot? What do you guys think?*_


	17. Transformation: Mysterious Character

_*AN: I'm quite curious as to whether or not you guys got my terrible attempts at name combining XD So, I have finals coming up this week, and that's why I haven't been updating daily! No cliff-hanger that last chapter, eh? Shame on me for not pulling a Rick Riordan. Not to fear, for a cliff-hanger is sure to come this chapter! Not only that, but this whole chapter is going to be a __**wonderful**__ cliffhanger. Enjoy c: ~AsianNinjaChik*_

**Note: **_This chapter... WILL contain language... soooooooo... uhmmmmm... Warning you in advance, I suppose . And another thing, if you're trying to keep things in time so your brain doesn't become confused, this chapter is from around the time Cana, Sting, Rogue, and Yukino go to the tavern, to after their call to Erza and company. So, timewise, pretty long._

**Chapter 17**

**~?~**

The boss likes to yell. A lot. Way too much. I take a sip of my beer and roll my eyes. I can't take him seriously. I never could. Never will. Not with that hair.

"Shut up already." I say coldly.

"You listen here, Ms. -"

I cut him off with an icy glare, "You were about to say my name right there, weren't you?" I place my elbow on the table and rest my chin on the back of my hand, "I know we've been over this. You don't say my name aloud in public or private."

I know he wishes he could turn me into a kitten or something, "You've still never told me why." He says.

I hold my spare hand up and show him the rainbow shimmer around it, "And I never will."

He knows I could kill him easily and he frowns, "You're a sadistic bitch."

I laugh.

He's about to say something before figures from outside the tavern catch my attention, "There are customers. I'll get the room prepared." I say lazily while standing up.

He runs to the door and flings it open. Four people stand in the doorway.

Rogue.

Yukino.

That drunken whore from Fairy Tail.

The fourth figure is slightly hidden behind the other three, but there is no mistaking that blond hair. Sting. 'The White Dragon'.

I feel my heart flutter. Shocked by my body's reaction to seeing him, I pause, unmoving. As I continue to stare at the group, my interest piqued, I notice a pair of brown eyes looking back at me. I smile coldly as Yukino quickly averts her eyes.

I duck into a small room, lit by a small torch. An alchemy table rests against the far back wall. Several torn pieces of paper are tacked onto the wall behind the table. Shelves full of ingredients, bottles, and random knick-knacks line the walls. An old leather bound notebook bursting with information lies on a smaller shelf next to more books on alchemy. I first head to the shelf lined with bottles, grab four, and place them on the table, beside the large basin used to mix things in. Looking up at the torn paper on the wall in front of me, I run my finger along them until I come to the one I'm looking for and note the ingredients.

I turn to a shelf beside be and grab a green vial labeled "Wyvern's blood", a small gray pouch labeled "Wraith ashes", a plain bottle of beer, and a peculiar pink vial labeled "blood of a lover". _Lover, eh? How pathetic. _I think to myself while bringing the ingredients to the table. I lay them out before me and uncork the vials, and open the pouch.

First thing first, I empty both of the vials' contents into the basin. I pick up the stirring spoon that was conveniently there from the last time I used it, and stir the deep red liquids in the bowl. Once sufficiently blended, I empty the pouch into the basin. The ashes slowly sprinkle in, a small shock circulating the basin as the all settled. I then emptied the beer in and mixed some more. When the liquid was a tranquil dark amber, I filled each of the four bottles with it until the basin was empty, save for the few remaining drops.

I take up the four bottles and leave the small alchemy room, to see that the boss was still talking to the group outside. As I am about to head down the hallway to leave the bottles in their room, the boss leads them into the tavern. Caught only slightly off guard, I hurry down, drop the bottles off on the table in the room, and hurry into the room across the hall so that they won't see me.

_I can't let my fun be over now._ I think to myself.

There is a brief moment before the their closes and my door is opened, the boss standing in the doorway.

I walk out and back down the hallway where I return to the beer that I had left a few minutes ago.

"They were from a Guild." The boss says, sitting across from me.

"How nice." I reply shortly.

He doesn't say anything for a moment. Then, "I'm speaking to you now as your friend Jasper. Not your boss, the tavern owner. And not your boss, the rogue wizard. If you want to let them go, I won't stop you."

I smirk, "Quite the opposite, I assure you. We've worked hard to set this plan in motion, and we're almost there. These Guild Wizards will be more than enough."

"You don't think they could disrupt things? After all, everyone else we've captured is a normal person."

"It doesn't matter. The cages are magic-proof. Besides, they won't be in Fiore anymore, so why does it matter? Will their magic even work?"

"I wouldn't know." He says.

"Even if it does, it just means we can fetch them for a higher price."

He smiles wickedly and his image wavers. For a brief moment, a tall man with black hair and cunning eyes stood in his place.

"Say, why do you stay in this form?" I ask, gesturing to his once again normal body.

"Could you picture someone like me owning a tavern? Much less one as silly as this? Besides, my magic is more subdued in this form." He says.

I shrug nonchalantly, "Hell if I know. I suppose you have a point."

"No matter, let's see if the traps have activated yet."

"You go on ahead, I'll stay here in case we have more customers." I say.

He waves and heads off down the hallway, his image wavering again.

I frown. He's using too much magic... He'll run out eventually if he stays like that. Even now, it seems as though his magic is running low. I shake my head. I hate to admit it, though, but his normal form scares me. _How embarrassing. Scared of a man who can't hurt you? _

I laugh coldly at nothing, "Boss, how is it?"

There is no answer. This strikes me odd, so I get up and walk down the hallway where I see him hands and knees on the ground, his image flickering nonstop. I'm not one to care for someone, but Jasper is my ticket to revenge. I cannot lose him.

I take him by the arms and drag him to an empty room where he falls onto the bed and writhes with pain.

"I told you that you were using too much magic!" I shout. He doesn't answer, only the slight twitch of his head tells me that he heard me.

"It doesn't matter if you magic is more noticeable or not. Dispel it before you use up all your magic.

My mind flashes back to the day I met him.

* * *

_I had been walking away from a local bakery when a shadow beckoned me into an ally. When I got to the ally, nothing more than a fat little man in a green suit with purple hair stood waiting for me._

"_Who the hell are you?" I had asked._

"_Only someone who has a little proposition for you."_

"_What would a fatty like you want with me?"_

_The wind picked up and his figure blurred. When the wind died down, a tall man with black hair, cunning eyes, and a wicked smile stood in his place._

_I took a step back, "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?"_

"_My name... is Jasper." He said in a much lower voice, "I'm sure you've heard of me. I'm the Rogue Wizard whose transformation magic only affects men."_

"_But that's clearly a lie." I said, narrowing my eyes._

"_Clearly. My magic works on everyone except women and children."_

"_You can't hurt me. Good to know. So what do you want?" I said._

"_Have you heard of the lands outside of Fiore?" He didn't wait for my answer before he said, "Course not. Not many have... Supposedly, magic can't be used outside of Fiore. Any wizard or magical creature that leaves is as good as dead."_

"_So why are you telling me this? Should I give a fuck?" I asked, growing tired of him._

"_Because there are other people beyond Fiore. Maybe not wizards, but there are people. Even variations on our magic. I've heard of people known as Rave Masters who have a form of magic that deals with weapons. Pirates who search for a long lost treasure known as the 'Legendary One Piece'! The world is ENDLESS!"_

_I yawned, "What's your point?"_

"_My point?" He laughs coldly, "Well, those people are clearly the better side of the world. But there is a dark side, too."_

_That was what caught my attention, "Is that so?"_

_He nodded, "Yes. Slave drivers. Cities where murderers run rampant. Places where a book is enough to kill someone. Cities where people can turn into weapons. Where witches and demons and monsters roam free."_

_Intrigued, I leaned forward, "Really?"_

"_Oh, yes. There's even places... not just one or two, but several, where people are taken and forced to participate in some gruesome game, whether it be an escape, a battle royale, or a game where only one can survive. Those places need people in order to function."_

"_I think I see what you're getting at..."_

"_Yes, YES! Capturing hundreds of people would be no small feat. But that's where you will come in, my dear. Together, we will capture people, and ship them off to theses places outside of Fiore, where even a Wizard will be helpless."_

* * *

"You are NOT doing this!" I shout.

I walk up to him and slap his face. The wavering stops and his real body slumps against the bed.

"We made a deal. We capture people. Ship them off. And enjoy the aftermath where we will one day become the supreme rulers of Fiore." I say. But little did he know that I intend to get rid of him once I'm done with him.

He scowls, "I believe they've been in the cages below us for some time, now. Come."

I follow him further along the hallway and down some hidden stone steps to a small room a little ways below the tavern. A blue portal stretches from floor to ceiling.

"Ready?" He asks.

I nod, and step into the portal with my eyes closed. When I open them again, I am in small glass room. Surrounding me on all sides is water. The sight never ceases to amaze me.

"Come along, we must go check on them." He says.

A single door in the room gives way to a dark corridor that leads to a cave carved from the side of a landmass when opened.

I walk through the door and the only sound is that of our feet pattering against the cold stone steps. Finally, we reach the bottom. The walls, floor, and ceiling are all made of cobblestone, with torches hanging everywhere. Cages of all shapes and sizes hang from the ceiling, or rest on the ground. In almost every one of them, is at least two people. From the stairs, no one can see us.

So I say, "Yukino. Rogue. Whore. Sting. Welcome."

I see them turn from their cage to face me.

"I am _not_ a whore." The whore complains.

Sting softly bops her on the head, "Cana, not now."

_Cana is it? _I step out of the stairwell and into the torchlight.

"Shit, it's you! You lil' bitch. Come here!" Cana yells.

Rogue says nothing and only stares. Yukino looks as though she wishes I weren't here.

Sting... Sting looks at me with pure hatred, "You."

_*AN: AND THAT IS IT, GUYS! Ooooohhhhhh, I wonder who you guys think it is. (I mean, it's pretty obvious...) Anyway, if you liked it, leave a review, favorite, and/or follow! I don't know when the next chapter will be up, but as I have said, I will try to get it up next weekend! So, be ready for that, everyone. Until next time, ciao! c: ~AsianNinjaChik*_


	18. Transformation: Rogue

_*AN: Probably my last update for a while. I dunno, we'll see! But as of right now, I've been feeling a depressing scene coming up. MAYBE we'll FINALLY have something besides plot. I got your hopes up right there, didn't I. But woooooweeeee! That clifhanger last chapter. I bet you guys weren't expecting to see her in this fanfic! ~AsianNinjaChik*_

**Chapter 18**

**~Rogue~**

Sting glares at the woman standing in the torchlight with such hatred, that I feel like I am looking at a different person.

"You." He manages to say, "_Minerva._"

She laughs coldly, without humor, "Did you miss me?"

Although she stands in front of me, my mind does not believe that it is actually her standing in front of me.

"YOU SADISTIC BITCH!" Cana screams, "I HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN WHAT YOU DID TO LUCY!"

"Sadistic bitch?" She repeats in a mocking manner.

Sting places a hand on Cana's shoulder and shakes his head. Cana crumples to the floor with her face buried in her hands.

"Not so strong and tough, are you, whore?" Minerva sneers.

"Minerva, shut up." Sting growls.

I am surprised to hear him say that. Seeing Sting in a fight was one thing, but to see him truly enraged like this? It didn't happen often, that was for sure.

Minerva comes closer to the cage and says, "Would you like to repeat that, Sting?"

He narrows his eyes, and immediately, I sense that nothing good can come of this, "I said, 'Shut up.'"

Instead of lashing out at Sting like I expect her to, she calmly says, "I wonder if you can be so collected when your pretty plaything's life is at risk."

Cana shakily stands up, "I am not his plaything. I am my own person."

Minerva glares, "Shut it, whore."

Cana looks as though she wants to say something more, but thinks better of it and sits back down. Suddenly, a cold smile stretches across Minerva's lips, "I have an idea... Say, Jasper," She calls to the other figure in the stairwell, "Would it be okay if we rough them up a bit?"

"I don't see why not." Is his metallic reply.

The man's voice is enough to scare me. It sends ripples down my spine, and it isn't until Yukino wraps her arms around me, do I stop.

With a wave of Minerva's hand, the lock on the cage vanishes. She pulls the door open with a low groan and looks at us as though we were ants. She quickly reaches forward and grabs hold of a leg and drags the victim out of the cage.

"Minerva, what are you doing?" Sting shouts.

"Having a bit of fun."

"Give her back, you bitch!"

It is my turn to calm him, "She's not even struggling." I whisper to him.

He looks up to see that I am right. Cana stares defiantly at Minerva as she encases her wrists in small cuffs attached to a tall stone column in the middle of the room.

After chaining her up, she returns to close and lock the cage door, "Can't be too careful." She then returns to Cana and looks down at her.

With a cold smile, Minerva lands a well-placed kick on Cana's stomach. Her eyes widen and she releases a muffled choking sound.

"Not yet begging for mercy? Shame. You will soon." Minerva says.

Without a moment's hesitation, she begins to kick Cana is the same place over and over.

"Yukino, don't look." I instruct, unable to tear my own eyes away from the scene.

Yukino nods and buries her head in my shoulder.

Cana's eyes are tear-filled, yet still hold a sense of defiance. It is clear that she is biting both her tongue and the insides of her cheeks, for every time a swift kick hits her, she releases a small gasp of pain. Her hands have been clenched so tightly that her nails have begun to draw blood. Minerva notices and stops kicking, only to pick up one of her hands.

"It's all bloody... That's no good."

Cana's eyes shine with one last act of defiance. She puffs her cheeks out, and then spits on Minerva.

Minerva's face twists into one that is not human, "Oh. You're just asking for a speedy death aren't you?"

Cana makes a face, as if to spit again, but Minerva's free hand connects with her cheek first, resulting in a dull slapping noise.

"Lucky for you, you _will_ die. But I sure as hell can tell you that it will be long and painful." Minerva says.

Minerva lays her thumb on Cana's palm in such a way that her delicately trimmed nail digs into the place where Cana's own nails drew blood.

She presses harder. More blood comes out and Cana's face twists up in pain. The scene is hard for me to take in, and therefore, harder for Sting. I can tell, that within the few hours they'd known eachother, he had come to care about her. That could only make this worse.

"Minerva, stop!" Sting yells from the cage.

Her nail continues to dig into Cana's palm, "Beg. Get on your hands and knees and _beg_ for me to stop."

"I will _never_ beg to the likes of you." He says.

With a sneer, Minerva buries her nail deeper into Cana's palm, "Too bad for her, then."

This time, though, Cana manages to rip her hand from Minerva's tight grip, resulting in a long scratch from her nail.

Minerva grins an inhuman grin, "Where do you think you're going? You're chained to a wall. There's not many places that you can go."

Sting grabs ahold of the cage and shakes it in an attempt to open it.

This catches Minerva's attention, "Oh, Sting, that's not going to get you anywhere. All you can do is sit here, watch, and enjoy."

"That will _never _happen."

She frowns, "It's quite surprising as to how un-hero-like you are. Especially when it comes to saving a damsel in distress."

Movement behind her catches my eye. Cana has reached into her small pouch and was using her cards to cut herself free. _Sting is buying her time! _I suddenly realize.

"Well, we've only known her one day. Do you expect there to be any kind of feelings or attachment? Besides, she's from Fairy Tail." I interject.

Minerva grins wickedly, "You always have been the more sensible one, Rogue."

I say nothing.

"I'm not about to risk my life for some girl I hardly know." Sting says, "But, something I learned from Natsu, is to _always _be willing to risk it all for friends, family, and guild mates."

I look over and even through the dim light, I can tell how much the first sentence pained him to say. From behind Minerva, Cana stops moving. She looks at Sting with a stare filled with mixed emotions. She is clearly pissed.

"Well, if there are no brave soldiers to come save this princess, isn't it about time you killed me already?" Cana asks, standing up. The chains broken.

"Broke the chains, eh? No matter." Minerva extends her arm and her hand shimmers with rainbow light. With an evil look, Minerva says, "Get ready to feel the pain of hell."

Suddenly, Cana is lifted up in the air. Her limbs twitch and her body writhes in pain, her face twisted into one of agony. Unable to contain it anymore, she lets out a bloodcurdling screech.

This causes Minerva's smile to grow, "Writhe. FEEL THE PAIN!" Cana is suddenly flung against a wall, then to another wall, then back and for the in between the two. Every hit knocking her further into unconsciousness until finally, her head lolls to one side. Minerva drops her and looks at her with mock pity, "Looks like my fun is done."

She picks up Cana's limp body and drops her back into the cage. Sting picks her up and looks at her helplessly, "Cana... I'm sorry..." Is his quiet murmur.

He draws her close into a one-sided embrace before saying, "Fight me, Minerva."

"Fight you?" She laughs, "Do you remember how easily Natsu beat you _and _Rogue? You could never win against me."

"That was then. Before, I was fighting for the wrong reasons. But now, I'm stronger."

"Don't make me laugh. I really don't want to do this to you, Sting. Think about Lector."

Still holding Cana he says, "I'm serious. If I win, you let us all go. If you win..."

"You stay with me here in Fiore and everyone else gets shipped off." Minerva finishes for him.

"Wh-what?"

"Sting, don't do it!" I shout.

"Stay with me. I can keep you happy. I can give you life a luxury. Stay." Minerva says, the closest to pleading as I've ever seen her get, "We could rule together. You and me."

This is when the figure from the doorway speaks it up, "Minerva, what are you saying? It was supposed to me and you."

She laughs coldly, "Change of plans. You're no use to me anymore."

The rainbow shimmer returns to her hand and the man is flung repeatedly against the floor.

Blood dribbles from his mouth as he says, "Mi...nerva... Why?"

"Why? Because I can." She says.

Using her magic, she teleports next to him, smiles, and slams his face in the stone wall. There's a sickening crunch as his skull connects with the wall, and I feel Yukino stiffen beside me.

"Now, where was I?" She asks, dropping his limp body, "Oh, yes. Sting, I accept your challenge.

It isn't until now that I notice the other people inside the other cages cringing. Minerva unlocks the cage door and it swings open. I see Sting lean down and whisper something in Cana's ear before gently laying her down and stepping out.

"I thought she didn't mean anything to you." Minerva says, also noticing.

His feet shift, a motion that only I knew of that means he's lying, "I don't know what you're talking about."

She rolls her eyes. It's clear that she's not going to let him win. I can tell that the battle is over before it even begins, but I don't have the heart to tell him.

Just as Minerva lifts her hand to attack, she is hit square in the back by a stream of fire.

"I hope we're not too late!" The attacker says from the stairwell, backed by five others.


	19. Transformation: Yukino

_*AN: So hey! Finals are over and I did well! Oh goodness, I'm proud of myself. I'm going to be doing something really weird with this chapter because... Just because. Enjoy c: ~AsianNinjaChik*_

**Chapter 19**

**~Yukino~**

***Part 1***

"I hope we're not too late!" A pink haired fire user says from the stairwell. Five others stand behind him: A girl with blonde pigtails, a young boy with blue hair who holds a young girl's hand, and a red-head girl stands next to a blue-haired fellow with a strange tattoo on his right eye.

"NATSU! LUCY! FAIRY TAIL!" I call from inside the cage.

Sting's eyes widen, "N...Na... Na... Natsu."

Natsu grins, "Hey guys!"

Erza frowns, "Now is not the time to be fooling around."

He straightens, "Right."

"Eh? Is that Minerva?" Lucy asks while peeking over Natsu's shoulder.

Minerva grins maniacally, already recovered, "Fairy Tail. I had fun toying with you during the Grand Magic Games. Ready for more fun?"

Lucy takes a step back, as if frightened. Noticing, Natsu throws his arm in front of her, as if to protect her, "Don't come any closer, Minerva."

I look at Rogue, "Why does Natsu seem to hate Minerva so much?" I ask.

He doesn't look at me, but answers, "Minerva tortured Lucy during the Grand Magic Games. She toyed with her and threw her around like a ragdoll."

I feel like he is about to say more, but curious, I ask, "Does he love her?"

He shrugs, "Don't know."

_Do you love me? _I think, looking at him.

"What is it?" He asks, catching me.

I look away swiftly, "It's nothing."

He frowns slightly, but shrugs it off.

I look back at the scene unfolding before us. By this point, Natsu's childish demeanor is gone, replaced by a scarily mature version of himself. Sting looks as though he wants to do something, but clearly thinks better of it.

"Minerva, what are you doing here?" Erza asks, taking charge.

"I don't need to answer to the likes of you. I am superior to all of you, and I always will be. _I _will be the supreme ruler of the world. You will _all_ be bowing down before me." Minerva answers.

Erza narrows her eyes, "I've beaten you once, and I will do it again."

"You had Kagura's help. But she's not here."

"No, she's not." Lucy says, lightly pushing Natsu's arm away, "She has us."

Minerva laughs at this, "You can't win against me."

It's Jellal who steps forward now, "Together, we can."

" 'Together?'" Minerva asks in a mocking manner, "It doesn't matter if you're together or not. You don't stand a chance against me."

Fire erupts around Natsu, "_You're _the one who doesn't stand a chance against _us_!"

"You think?" She asks with a sneer. As easily as one would swat at a fly, Minerva has everyone, but Natsu, held against a wall by an unseeable force.

"NATSU!" Romeo calls.

"You can do it, Natsu!" Wendy cheers.

"Show them the true strength of Fairy Tail!" Jellal shouts.

"Don't hold back, Natsu!" Erza yells.

"NOT A CHANCE!" Natsu roars.

"Natsu, teach her a lesson!" Lucy says.

He punches his palm, "I'M ALL FIRED UP!"

While all this was occurring, Sting had backed up into the cage and now kneels beside Cana. It didn't take a genius to see that even during the brief time he had known her, he had developed feelings for her.

"She's not dead." Rogue says suddenly.

Sting looks up in surprise, "I- what?"

"I can tell you're worried." He says simply.

Sting looks down, "Yeah. I don't know why..."

There's a moment of silence and the only thing that we hear is the fight roaring beside us. When I look back at Sting, he's holding Cana and his lips are moving, as though whispering in her ear. I look away, wondering if Rogue would ever do something like that for me.

"Cana!" I hear. I look over and see Cana's eyes slowly flutter open.

"Sting?" She looks up and they stare into each others' eyes.

I look away, ashamed.

"Are you okay, Yukino?" Rogue asks.

My face grows red and I nod. He seems not to notice my redness and reaches out and wraps me into a hug.

"R-Rogue?" I stammer.

He doesn't say anything, just holds me. _I_ don't do anything. We stand like this, just the two of us, for a few minutes. During these few minutes, it's like the world around us has vanished and it's like there's no one else but us.

My moment of bliss is interrupted by Natsu slamming into the cage next to ours.

"Bastard." He mutters.

Quickly, he stands back up and charges Minerva.

Ripping my eyes away, a flash of realization hits me, "Hey Rogue."

"Hm?"

"If Sting just walked back into the cage, doesn't that mean that the lock is off?"

His eyes widen, "You're right." He walks over to the cage door and pushes it. It croaks open.

Our joy is short-lived, "I can't have my cargo running off." Minerva says, holding Natsu by the neck against the column that Cana was chained to.

Rogue is flung back and the door is shut, yet Minerva doesn't let go of Natsu.

"Any last words?" Minerva sneers.

Natsu's cheeks puff out, he blows, and Minerva is engulfed in a stream of fire.

"You did it!" Lucy calls, running up to him and wrapping her arms around his neck.

Natsu grins and watches as Minerva tries to stand back up after being blown away by Natsu's Roar of the Fire Dragon.

"Good job!" Erza says stretching.

"Fools." Minerva shouts. Everyone stops what they are doing and looks at her as she stands, "You think you can beat me that easily?"

"Give up!" Erza demands, "You're already been weakened so much that your magic no longer holds us. The lock on the cage has been undone. Give up. You've lost."

I reach out and push against the door. It swings open and I step out on shaky legs. Rogue follows behind me, and Sting walks supporting Cana who limps.

Minerva frowns, "I will _never_ give up. I will fight you_ all_ to the death. _I_ will win. _I _will be supreme ruler of the world. The strongest person alive. THAT IS _ME!_" She shouts.

_*AN: Yes, "Part 2". This chapter has a second part! Because we all enjoy a good fight scene, oui? Anyway, enjoy that chapter from Natsu's POV. I mean, we didn't get much fight in that Part 1, did we? Anyway, I've been thinking, and I need an awesome signature catch phrase... Hmm, I'll be thinking about that for a while now . At any rate, enjoy! c: ~AsianNinjaChik*_

_**BTW: Listen to this while reading c: **__ watch?v=VXedWYVsIfM _

**~Natsu~**

***Part 2***

After exploring the beach with Gray and Juvia, we came across two tunnels on the beach. Gray and Juvia followed the one that they thought would lead to the treasure they had originally set out on finding. The rest of us, Lucy, Jellal, Erza, Romeo, Wendy, and myself, went down the other tunnel. We followed the tunnel for a while and came upon a glass room with another passageway leading into the side of the island.

"We don't know what will be down there. Are you all ready?" Erza asked.

We all nodded and with that settled, we headed off down the passage, following the stairs that we came across. Not too long later, we found ourselves at the bottom of the stairs, and what we saw, I could never erase from my memory.

Cages lined the walls. A few columns stood at intervals to support the stone ceiling. One cage, in particular, stood out among the rest. In this cage was Yukino, Rogue, and Cana.

Sting stood outside the cage, at a face-off with someone whose back was to us. Sting's attacker lifted up her hand as if to attack. I released a stream of fire that hit her suqare on the back.

And now, here the five of us stand.

"I hope we're not too late!" I say.

"NATSU! LUCY! FAIRY TAIL!" Yukino calls from inside the cage.

Sting's eyes widen, "N...Na... Na... Natsu."

I grin, glad to see that they're alright, "Hey guys!"

Erza frowns, "Now is not the time to be fooling around."

I straighten, "Right."

"Eh? Is that Minerva?" Lucy asks while peeking over my shoulder.

Minerva grins maniacally, already recovered from my weak attack, "Fairy Tail. I had fun toying with you during the Grand Magic Games. Ready for more fun?"

Lucy takes a step back, as if frightened. Noticing, Natsu throws my arm in front of her to protect her, "Don't come any closer, Minerva." I say.

"You think you can tell me what to do, weakling?" She cackles.

I look behind me to make sure everyone has my back. When I do, though, I see Jellal kneeling by a black pile of clothes on the floor.

"Who... Who is this." He asks slowly.

"Oh, him? He was simply another pawn that I needed to use to achieve my ultimate goal."

"You sick bitch." Jellal mutters.

"Minerva, what are you doing here?" Erza asks, taking charge.

"I don't need to answer to the likes of you. I am superior to all of you, and I always will be. _I _will be the supreme ruler of the world. You will _all_ be bowing down before me." Minerva answers.

Erza narrows her eyes, "I've beaten you once, and I will do it again."

"You had Kagura's help. But she's not here."

"No, she's not." Lucy says, lightly pushing my arm away, "She has us."

Minerva laughs at this, "You can't win against me."

It's Jellal who steps forward now, "Together, we can."

" 'Together?'" Minerva asks in a mocking manner, "It doesn't matter if you're together or not. You don't stand a chance against me."

Fire erupts around me, "_You're _the one who doesn't stand a chance against _us_!"

"You think?" She asks with a sneer. As easily as one would swat at a fly, Minerva has everyone, but me, held against a wall by an unseeable force.

"NATSU!" Romeo calls.

"You can do it, Natsu!" Wendy cheers.

"Show them the true strength of Fairy Tail!" Jellal shouts.

"Don't hold back, Natsu!" Erza yells.

"NOT A CHANCE!" Natsu roars.

"Natsu, teach her a lesson!" Lucy says.

I punch my palm, "I'M ALL FIRED UP!"

_They all have so much faith in me. I can't let them down. Not now. Especially not Lucy. SHE'S COUNTING ON ME! _

Minerva raises her hand and a rainbow shimmer appears around it. She smirks and I feel myself moving. I slam against one of the columns. Shaking it off, I spin around.

"IRON FIST OF THE FIRE DRAGON!" I shout, leaping into the air, fire jumping from my fist.

I'm fast, but she's faster. Or so I think. Suddenly I'm punching the ground, and she's up in the air where I was just moments ago. I spin around again and leap up for another punch. Yet again, she manages to maneuver around my attack. My feet hit the ceiling, and I launch myself off of it, throwing a barrage of punches at her. She easily dodges every one. The moment her feet touch the ground, she pushes off and her knee connects with my stomach.

"Not so tough. Are we?" She asks as she slams me against the ceiling.

"NATSU!" Lucy shouts.

_Lucy! I can't give up now. I have to win. _I ignite my feet and manage to land a swift, but weak, kick to her side.

In that moment, she is off-guard, "FIRE DRAGON'S BRILLIANT FLAME!" I shout, bringing my hands together. A large fireball generates between them, and I launch it at her. It hits her and sends her flying. She hits a wall, but when she falls, she flips and lands on her feet.

"Ih Ragdo!" She shouts.

I'm suddenly surrounded by a rainbow light and thrown in the direction of Sting, Cana, Rogue, and Yukino's cage. I end up slamming into the one next to theirs, instead.

I launch another punch at her, but instead of dodging, she grabs my hand, stopping my punch. She takes me and throws me to the ground. As I hit it, a numbing sensation spreads through my back. Wasting no time, she now picks me up by the neck and holds me against a column. She turns to looks at the cage, only to see that Rogue has opened the door.

She frowns, "I can't have my cargo running off." Rogue is flung back into the cage and the door slams shut.

Seizing the opportunity, I feel the fire build up inside of me as I prepare a roar. When it's ready, I blow and release a Fire Dragon's Roar right at her face. She flies backwards and lands on the stone floor. I fall, gasping for breath.

"You did it!" Lucy calls, running up to me and wrapping her arms around my neck.

I feel my face go red and I grin as Minerva tries to stand back up after being blown away by my attack.

"Good job!" Erza says stretching and walking over.

"Fools." Minerva shouts. Everyone stops what they are doing and looks at her as she stands, "You think you can beat me that easily?"

"Give up!" Erza demands, "You're already been weakened so much that your magic no longer holds us. The lock on the cage has been undone. Give up. You've lost."

Minerva frowns, "I will never give up. I will fight you all to the death. I will win. I will be supreme ruler of the world. The strongest person alive. THAT IS ME!" She shouts.

"It doesn't have to be like that." Wendy says, speaking up for the first time, "You can walk away without anyone else being hurt."

"Tch." Minerva spits, "There's no way in hell I'm going to do that."

"Your funeral!" Someone calls from the stairwell.

"Gray, Juvia!" Lucy calls. And it is, in fact, Gray and Juvia. They are dripping with water look shaken and out of breath, and Juvia holds a large golden key.

"You're late." I tease.

"You can never be late for your own funeral!" Minerva shouts.

_*AN: OMG! PART 3. That's right guys. SUPER LONG CHAPTER. Let' go see what our favorite Ice and Water mage were doing while Natsu was fighting Minerva, shall we? ~AsianNinjaChik*_

**~Gray~**

***Part 3***

"Juvia and Gray-sama will take this one!" Juvia says pointing to one of the two tunnels that we run into.

Natsu, Lucy, Jellal, and Erza nod. Romeo and Wendy look almost scared, and I resist a smile as I remember being their age. _Ewh. Nostalgia. Nononononononononono. _

"See you guys later!" I say, walking in. Juvia quickly follows me and together, we head down the dark tunnel.

We walk in the dark for a few minutes. During these few minutes, she grabs my hand. I'm thankful for the dark as I feel myself go red. _Nononononono. No red. Red is bad. _

"Gray-sama, are you okay? You're tense." She asks.

"I'M OKAY!" I answer too quickly.

She doesn't seem to notice and we keep walking.

"There's water up ahead." She says.

I nod. She's right. We now stand in a large glass room. Large chests line the three walls. There are a few armor stands displaying armor here and there, and a few weapon racks scattered about. A plain pedestal stands in the center, a large golden key resting on top of it.

"Is that the key, do you think?" I ask her.

She nods, "Yeah." She walks forward and carefully picks it up and returns to my side.

We start to walk out, but as we do, something groans behind us. We turn and watch in horror as each armor stands transforms into a man.

"IT'S A TRAP!" I shout.

They see us and the moment they do, they all charge us. We look at eachother, nod, and run out, Juvia carrying the key. Suddenly, water surges around our feet.

"Juvia, are you doing this?" I ask as we run faster.

"No! Juvia is not doing this!" She wails.

As we run, we reach the dark, lightless tunnel.

"Juvia, grab my hand!" I yell over the roar of the churning water.

Holding the key steady under one arm, she reaches forward to grab my hand. As she does this though, the key slips out from under her grasp and is overtaken by the water.

"I'll get it!" I say.

"GRAY-SAMA!" She calls.

I dive into the roaring water, looking for the key. The water surges around me, and I'm swept into the dark tunnel. Suddenly, there's sand beneath me. I cough up water as I pant, hands and knees buried in the sand. Juvia runs up to me holding the key, "This swept up just before you, Gray-sama."

I can't talk, so I nod.

When I finally catch my breath, I say, "Let's go down and bring them the key."

"What about them?" Juvia asks, pointing to the men who were also sputtering on the beach.

"They were the ones in that room?"

She nods.

"Ice make: Cage!" I shout, punching my palm. Cages rise out of the sand and trap them, "We'll deal with them later. Let's go!" I say grabbing her hand and running down the other tunnel.

*_AN: THAT'S RIGHT. PART FOUR. BE READY FOR FEELS. Go here and cry while you read: watch?v=MuTe3X4vnzg _

**~Wendy~**

***Part 4***

"You can never be late to your own funeral!" Minerva shouts as Gray and Juvia join us.

"GIVE UP!" Jellal shouts, "You can't win."

"NEVER!" She shouts.

Erza looks her dead in the eye and says, "We don't die for our friends. We live for them. And that's what all of us plan on doing. You. Can't. Win."

Rainbow shimmers appear around her hands again, but Erza is ready. Her sword flies at Minerva from out of nowhere and slides through her stomach. She coughs and her eyes go wide as she falls to the ground.

"You wanna know why Fairy Tail is so strong?" Romeo asks her.

"We all believe in eachother. We all have eachothers' backs. We will always be there for one another. That's what makes us strong. Our friendship and the bonds that we have between us." I say.

Minerva slowly begins to push herself up, "Friendship? That doesn't matter. Nothing matters but raw power!"

"That's where you're wrong." Natsu says.

"Power _doesn't _matter." Gray adds.

"None of us would be here today if not for friendship and our bonds." Natsu continues.

"You can't be strong without having someone there to back you up." Erza adds.

"Without friends, you have no power." Lucy also adds.

Minerva's eyes blaze, "I DON'T NEED FRIENDS. I AM THE STRONGEST WIZARD ALIVE."

Erza's eyes also blaze, "SHUT UP. YOU MAY THINK THAT YOU'VE GOTTEN WHERE YOU ARE WITHOUT ANYONE ELSE'S HELP. But if you think that, then you're just lying to yourself!"

"I don't need ANYONE'S help!" Minerva screams.

This sets Erza off. She marches forward, rips her sword out of Minerva's torso, and slaps her face, "Acting brave is the weakest thing you can do. The strongest wizards _all_ know that friends are the source of their power. All _I _need is the power to protect my comrades. So long as I can have the strength to do that, I don't care if I am weaker than everyone else in this world. All of us here," She says gesturing to all of us, "we'd rather die than abandon our comrades! Power isn't everything. Having the power to protect your friends and everyone around you is _true _strength. Not fighting to prove that you're the strongest."

"You don't know anything!" Minerva shouts.

Erza ignores her, "I was once weak, always afraid. I hid my tears, but I kept going, kept believing. I followed my heart and found courage. That courage gave me strength. It is my comrades that make my heart strong. If I'm fighting for those I love, I care not what happens to this body. You see, it's not our abilities that show our true character, but our actions. You've lost, Minerva. Give up already."

"Those are the words of the weak!" Minerva screams, "Comrades only hold you back and prevent you from getting stronger! I will not be defeated by someone as weak as you."

"If you never want to be defeated, then you must first know your own weaknesses." Erza says, staring her in the eye.

"Everything doesn't have to be decided by life and death." Gray says, "Just think about the future."

"THERE IS NO FUTURE FOR THE WEAK!" Minerva screams.

"You're wrong again!" Natsu says, "As long as our friends are with us, we have nothing to fear! Even if we don't have any magic power left, we won't give up until the bitter end."

"JUST SHUT UP. ALL OF YOU JUST SHUT UP!" Minerva shouts, "I will kill you all!"

"Juvia lives for the ones she loves!" Juvia says, "If you have love in your life, then you have to keep on living!"

"If you were really a member of a guild, then you should know that it's important to take care of your friends!" Natsu says, "I can sense everyone's feelings... I am _not_ alone... Everyone's feelings? They support me. They are what give me the will to stand and fight."

"You Fairy Tail wizards... You rely too much on your delusions of friendship!" Minerva mocks, "I've fought you once, Lucy Heartphilia. Your so-called friendship did you no good, did it?!"

"You're wrong. I won't give up. _I_ will fight to the bitter end, 'cause there is no way I will back down after what you did to my friends. They are what made me the person I am today. That's why I didn't give up. That's why I never will... For my friends!" Lucy says.

"PATHETIC. ALL OF YOU!" Minerva shouts.

Erza steps back, "If you think we're so pathetic, then leave."

Minerva sneers, "I will." She walks away shakily. As she reaches the stairwell, she turns back to us and says, "This isn't over, Fairy Tail."

"I don't think she knows what it's like to have a friend." I say, thinking aloud.

Erza turn to look at me, "You know... I think you're right."

_*AN: AND THAT'S A WRAP! Whooppee for deep inspirational quotes, eh? Welp, that's it for now! Hope you enjoyed! Review/Favorite/Follow if you liked it! ~AsianNinjaChik._


	20. Transformation: Evergreen

_*AN: Hey everyone! Here's a little chapter as to what Elfman, Evergreen, Laxus, and Mira were doing. I'm sure you all were expecting more development. BUT DON'T WORRY, BECAUSE GUESS WHAT? THIS FANFICTION ISN'T OVER! That's right! It's not over! The next chapter will mark the END of the FIRST arc. I've officially decided that I will continue this as a story organized as arcs. Of course, I still haven't come up with a name yet, but meh. I'll update the summary to show where arcs begin and end and such. But yeah, that's all for now I suppose. I have yet to come up with a catchy catch phrase, though. Ewhhhhhh. Anyway, I should shut up. Enjoy c: ~AsianNinjaChik*_

**Chapter 20**

**~Evergreen~**

"I wonder what's taking Mira and Laxus so long?" I ask aloud as I stir the cake batter.

Elfman stands opposite from me, also mixing. _Why does he look so stupidly goofy doing this? _I ask myself.

"EVERGREEN!" Mira shouts and she and Laxus run into the kitchen.

"Eh?" I ask.

"We have to go!" She says.

"Eh?" I repeat.

"While we were in the market, we ran into Natsu and everyone else." Laxus explains, "They're all going off on a mission to find some Rogue Mage."

"So?" I ask.

"Apparently, there's something bigger going on. We need to find a tavern where people are being held captive." Mirajane explains.

"A tavern?" Elfman asks.

"Yeah."

"Where is it?" I ask.

"It's near Sabertooth." Laxus says.

"Sabertooth?! Why can't they go deal with it?" I ask bluntly.

Mira smiles her devilish smile, "Because, that's our job."

"JOBS ARE MAN!" Elfman shouts.

"NOT EVERYTHING IS MAN YOU STUPID OAF!" Laxus shouts.

Freed and Lisanna come in during the commotion, "What's going on in here?" He asks.

"We're going on a job!" Mira says.

"The four of you?" Lisanna asks, disbelieving, although I don't blame her.

"Yeah!" Elfman cheers.

"Actually," Mira starts, tapping her chin, "You two could come with us. We don't know what we'll be doing or what we'll be up against. The more the merrier."

Freed grabs Laxus's hands, "A JOB WITH LAXUS?!"

He nods, "All that's missing now is Bickslow."

"He went on a job by himself not too long ago." Lisanna says.

"Why would he go by himself?" I ask in surprise.

"Dunno." She answers shrugging, "Do you wish you were with him?" She teases.

I shake my head, "Of course not."

"That's right. You have Elfman." She says giggling. I go red.

"Whatever. We should just go." I say.

"We leave for Sabertooth immediately!" Laxus announces.

"We'll fill you in on the way there!" Mira says as we file out.

***At the tavern***

"Is this it?" I ask in surprise.

"This place sure doesn't look dangerous." Lisanna remarks.

"Well, I don't see how it could." Laxus says.

"This... this is not man..." Elfman complains.

"Wh- What is this?" Freed asks.

Only Mira seems unaffected by what stands before us, "It's pink!" She says.

Shaking his head, Laxus opens the door only to reveal that the tavern is empty.

"Empty." Freed blatantly states.

"I wonder why..." I say.

"There's something off about this place... But I can't figure out what it is." Lisanna says.

Mira walks to the back and disappears into what must be a small room.

"What is it, Mira?" Laxus asks, following.

We all look at eachother and then follow after them. We duck into the small room and find ourselves surrounded by alchemical ingredients.

"What is this?" Freed asks.

Mira dips a finger into a basin and licks it, "It's a potion."

"What kind?" Elfman asks.

"A very strong variation of a love potion, it seems... Although, there seems to be something else, as well..." She closes her eyes.

"Can you figure anything else out?" Laxus asks.

"What I wanna know is how she knows this." I whisper quietly to Lisanna.

"I think it's better we don't know..." She answers.

Mira picks up a torn piece of paper and mouths what is written on it, "I've got it."

"Eh? What is it?" Freed asks.

"This, as I said before, is a variation of a love potion. This potion is known as 'Black Amour', or 'Black Love.' The ingredients are mixed in with beer, and the effects don't kick in until after the drinker has become drunk."

"And what are the effects?" I ask worriedly.

"Because it IS a love potion, it causes the drinker to fall madly in love with a person of the opposite sex. BUT, it can only be with someone else affected by the potion. It also has the ability to unlock feelings that were, say, hidden. Basically saying that if two people were meant to be together, but didn't know, drinking the potion would make them realize it, even if just one of them drinks. Once the drinker is aware of the magic, or becomes sober, the magic wears off." Mira explains.

"Well, that doesn't seem all that bad..." Lisanna says.

Mira shakes her head, "That part isn't."

"It has more effects?" Elfman asks.

She nods, "Once the magic wears off, something is triggered."

"And what is that?" Laxus asks skeptically.

"I don't know. This stuff is rare and hard to make." Mira says.

"Wait a moment." I say, "If there is some in that basin, and this is where Cana, Sting, Yukino, and Rogue were..."

"Then that means they probably drank some." Lisanna finished.

"But Cana doesn't get drunk easily. Bacchus is the only one she's ever lost to." Freed points out.

"Exactly. That means the magic never affected her." I explain.

"I don't see how that helps." Laxus says, "At least one of the four must have been affected in order for the effects to trigger... Whatever it is that may be triggered."

I sigh, "You're right."

"We should keep looking around." Mira says.

"Hey guys! Over here!" Elfman calls from down a hallway. I didn't even notice that he left.

"What is it?" Lisanna asks as we all walk over to him.

"There's a lot of magic coming from this room." He says.

Mira's eyes widen, "Freed, do you know a spell that can remove the effects of Transformation Magic?"

"Eh? Sure." He says.

"I need you to use it on this room." She instructs.

He nods and sets to work.

Confused, I look at her and ask, "Why should he do that?"

"If the Transformation Wizard's magic only works on others, who's to say that it doesn't work on objects either?" She explains.

It makes sense.

"Done." Freed says.

We look over and see that the floor has turned into a large swirling blue mass.

"What is that?" Lisanna asks.

"It's a portal." Laxus says.

"So that's what the magic activates." I say, "It removes the transformation magic cast on the floor and reverts it back to what it really is."

"Wait..." Laxus says, "Before anyone decides to go in, there's a similar magical energy coming from further down this hallway."

_Another portal? _"Let's go check it out." I say to Lisanna, Freed, and Elfman, "You two are strong enough to take on whatever comes your way. Check this one out."

Mira nods, "Good luck!"

We run down the hallway and burst into a room with another portal. Without a moment's hesitation, I leap in with my eyes closed. The other three right behind me.

When my eyes open, I am standing in a large glass room... Underwater?

"What is this?" Freed asks.

"Lisanna! Freed! Evergreen! Elfman!" A cheery voice calls from a tunnel built into the face of the landmass.

"Natsu!" Freed says in surprise.

Natsu comes out of the tunnel looking battered, yet cheerful. Lucy is right behind him, and Erza and Jellal behind her. On Jellal's back, though, is an almost dead looking body. Behind him, Romeo and Wendy walk out... holding hands?! _HOW CUTEEEE! KAWAII!_

"Eh? What's that?" Elfman asks, pointing to the body on Jellal's back.

"This is the Rogue Mage I've been hunting." He says.

"He looks kinda... dead..." Lisanna says.

"He's not. There's a pulse. Faint, but it's there." Erza says.

"He had a pretty nasty beating." Another voice says from the tunnel.

Sting, Cana, Rogue, Yukino, Juvia, Gray, Laxus, and Mira walk out now, followed by a trail of people who look terrible.

"It's time to get out of here." Laxus says.

Everyone exchanges smiles, and we walk out using another tunnel. _A happy ending after all._ I think to myself, smiling.

_*AN: Before you say, 'WHERE'S MINERVA?" She got away last chapter, remember? Anyway, this concludes the first arc: The Transformation arc! (because I'm original). ~ANC_


	21. Behind the Scenes with the Ships Pt 1

_*AN: FILLER! That's right. I just said the "F-word". FIIIIIILLLLLLLLLEEERRRR. Don't worry, just a few filler chapters while I figure out some elaborate plot for the next arc! (If you have any ideas, feel free to PM me, and I'll be sure to give you a shoutout!) But don't worry (wow, I'm repetitive), because these fillers are meant to be funny and enjoyable. For the most part, they're just going to be humorous romantic developments. Although, this first chapter will be a little, "and then, after all that drama, this and this happened and yadda yadda yadda." chapter. At any rate, everyone has been waiting for some GaLe fluff, oui? Anyway, this chapter is going to switch back and forth between some characters, but not anything as big as 19! ~AsianNinjaChik*_

**Chapter 21**

**~Gajeel~**

When everyone returns to the guild from the mission, the guild is in chaos. All around me, shouts of, "WHERE IS TEAM NATSU?", "WHERE IS THE STRONGEST TEAM?", or "WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO WITHOUT ERZA?" But there was also, "THEY'RE BACK!"

"Gajeel... Are you alright?" Levy asks from beside me.

_Is she worried about me? That's wrong. She shouldn't worry about me. _I look at her small delicate body and a strange urge to protect her overwhelms me, "Huh? Oh, I'm fine."

Natsu marches into the guild happily, while holding a clearly annoyed Lucy's hand. Romeo and Wendy come in next, also holding hands. _Geez. What happened on this mission?_ I ask myself. Behind them is Jellal, who is dragged by a triumphant Erza even though it seems there is something, or someone, on his back. Gray comes in next, with Juvia in tow, as expected. Elfman and Evergreen are next, looking just as triumphant as those in front of them. Laxus and Mirajane come in after them, looking as a proud mother and father would.

"Hey, Natsu!" I call.

He grins at me, "WE DID IT GAJEEL!"

"Come here, idiot." I say.

He walks over, dragging Lucy, "What is it?"

I am about to ask him if we could talk about something, but four more people coming in catch my attention.

"What are they doing here?" I ask.

"What's Cana doing with them?" Levy asks.

"Huh? Oh, Sting and Rogue and Yukino? They were a pretty big help in the mission!" Lucy says.

"How, they didn't do anything." Natsu complains.

"If it weren't for them, we would never have found Jasper."

"Eh? Who's Jasper?" I ask, confused.

Natsu also looks confused, "I dunno."

Lucy looks down and clenches her fist, "The Rogue Transformation Mage that Jellal was hunting?"

"Oh that guy!" Natsu says laughing.

I look over at the body that Wendy is now healing, "Is it that guy?"

Lucy nods, "Yeah. Minerva roughed him up pretty bad."

"Mi... Minerva?!" Levy asks in surprise.

"Don't worry! I taught her a lesson!" Natsu says, grinning.

I look up in time to see Sting lean down and pick Cana up bridal style and carry her out.

"WH-WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" She shouts.

Lucy and Levy exchange a knowing glance and wink at eachother while watching Cana grow red. Natsu and I look at eachother and shrug.

Suddenly, a weird feeling sparks within me. _Why can't I do something like that to Levy?_

**~Cana~**

"It's been fun!" Sting says laughing.

Yukino lets loose a small smile, "I honestly wish we could take you with us. It'd be nice to have more girls."

"There's nothing stopping us." Rogue points out.

"You guys are great, really! But Fairy Tail is my home." I say.

Sting grins and suddenly, I'm swept off my feet. Literally.

"WH-WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" I shout as he carries me in his strong arms.

Once we're outside, I hear Rogue remark, "It's good to see that you're back to your old cheerful self."

"You guys go on ahead, I need to talk to Little Ms. Sassy for a bit." Sting says.

I frown, "_Excuse_ me?"

Yukino giggles and pulls Rogue along, "Alright, see you back at the guild!"

When they're out of earshot, he puts me down and looks at me seriously, "Do you really love it that much at Fairy Tail?"

I nod.

"Well, I guess I can't say do anything about that."

"Huh?"

"There's something about you..." He says.

"Something... about me?"

He leans forward and whispers in my ear, "Cana, I think I might be in love with you." He pulls slightly back, looks me in the eyes, then plants his lips firmly against mine.

But this time, he's not under the influence of that potion. This time, it's of his own free will. I wrap my arms around his neck as he pulls away.

"Remember what I said then?" He asks softly.

"When?"

"When you were sober. And I was drunk."

"You remember what you said?" I ask in surprise.

"Mhmm. One thing I remember in particular though."

"And what might that be?"

"When you acted so flustered after asking me about my mate. You were stunningly cute." He teases.

"You remember that so well, do you?"

My arms still around his neck, he reaches down and grabs my waist, pulling me closer, "I do."

I reach up and kiss him softly, "You do?"

He bends down and kisses me softly in return, "I told you that you were my mate."

I kiss him softly again, "You did."

"I can't wait to do something like that with you again. Completely sober." He says.

I smile and reach into my bag and pull out a card, "Here. Take this."

He holds it up, "What is it?"

"It's a 'Call Cana' card. You can use it to call me if you ever need to."

He smiles, "Thank you."

I look away, "Yeah... You should probably get going..."

"To think you're so eager to get rid of me!" He says with mock sadness.

"It's not that!" I protest.

He laughs and swiftly kisses my cheek before running off shouting, "Until next time!"

I lightly touch my cheek and smile as I walk back inside.

**~Rogue~**

"What do you think he needed to talk to her about?" Yukino asks.

"Probably something about what happened at the tavern. It was bothering him." I answer.

"What happened at the- oh..."

"Huh?"

"It... It's nothing."

_Why is she embarrassed? Obviously it was meant to happen, wasn't it?, _"Tell me."

"NO!"

"C'mon."

"I already told you no!"

I put one arm around her waist as we walk, "Whatever you say!"

**~Laxus~**

"Say, Mira." I say turning to Mirajane who stands behind the bar. Even right after a mission, she came immediately to tidy up the bar and calm down a flustered Kinana.

"Hmm?"

"We never did get the strawberries for the cake." I point out.

"Oh? Is this your way of asking me out on a date?" Mira asks.

"WHAT? NONONONONONONONONONONONONONO. HAH THAT'S FUNNY. NO. UH.. YEAH NO."

She giggles, "Alright, let me finish this up and we can go!"

**~Wendy~**

"Dad!" Romeo says to Macao.

"Eh? What is it?" He answers, chugging down some beer.

"There's no need to be so harsh. He's your son." Wakaba scolds.

"Wendy and I! We.. we..." He starts.

"You what?" Macao asks.

"We love eachother!" I answer with a smile.

He spits his beer out, "Wh-whaaaat?!"

Wakabo slaps Romeo's back, " 'Atta boy!"

"W-wait... Hold on!" Macao protests.

Romeo grabs my hand, "We're going to end up like Alzack and Bisca one day!"

Macao pales and slumps over in his seat, "H... H... How?"

Wakaba gives him a thumbs up.

I lean over and kiss Romeo on the cheek, "One day!"

**~Levy~**

"Hey, Natsu. I need to talk to you about something." Lucy says dragging Natsu away.

"Huh? Oh. Bye Gajeel!" He says cheerfully.

"Hey, Gajeel."

"Huh?"

"I've noticed that you haven't sung anything lately..."

"You noticed?"

I grow red, "I mean... I wasn't waiting for it or anything... You just did it a lot and-"

He takes my head and hugs it to his chest, "Idiot."

**~Natsu~**

"What is it, Lucy?" I ask when she finally sits down.

"That conversation with Lisanna... About you loving her and the guild and everything..."

"What about it?"

"Well... Uhm... Do you.. uhm..." She looks away.

"Do I what?" I ask confused.

"Well, do you love me as more than just a partner?" She asks hurriedly.

There's a twinge in my chest that I don't understand and a strange light feeling overtakes me, "I dunno... But I do feel oddly light and happy right now! I love you, for sure, Lucy!" I say.

She gets really really red, "O-oh! Ah-okay. Uh, yeah.. okay..."

My dragonly instincts take over for a brief moment after that. I lean forward, hug her close, and brush my lips against her cheek.

"N-N-N-N-N-NATSUUUUUUU!" She squeals.

**~Elfman~**

"Elfman." Evergreen says, not looking up from her beer, "You did good today.

I smile. She rarely complimented me, "OF COURSE. I AM A MAN! But... you did good, too, Ever."

Her eyebrow twitches, "SHUT UP ABOUT MEN ALREADY."

"BUT YOU WERE MANLY TODAY!"

"I AM A WOMAN!" She roars.

**~Gray~**

"Uhm, Gray-sama?" Juvia asks, sitting beside me.

"What's up?" I ask.

"Thank you." She says.

"Huh? For what?" I ask.

She looks down, "For being there for Juvia..."

I reach over and fold my arms around her, "Shh. You're not alone anymore." _Because you have me. _I add silently.

After a moment I notice she's crying, "W-wait... Stop crying... Don- Don't cry..."

She pulls away and wipes the tears away, "They're tears of happiness. Thank you, Gray-sama. Thank you!"

_*AN: Hmm, maybe only one chapter of fillers? NOPE. At least one more (probably more, as I am still brainstorming). Next chapter full of some Jerza for your entertainment. Until next time, bai c: ~AsianNinjaChik*_


	22. Behind the Scenes with the Ships Pt 2

_**Shoutout to **__**Jennstoppable**__**for being awesome!**_

_*AN: JeRza! Whoopwhoop! This chapter will probably be shorter... I dunno. Maybe some NaLu will be in here, too? Who knows? But this WILL be the last chapter of fillers as I have come up with an idea for the second arc c: Enjoy! ~AsianNinjaChik*_

**Chapter 22**

**~Jellal~**

I'm not a very friendly or social person. Erza knows this. But, she doesn't care.

"Isn't that right, Jellal?" She asks, elbowing me.

I have no clue what she's talking about so I say, "Huh? Oh, uhm yeah."

This makes Laxus laugh, "Erza, don't torment the poor boy!"

"Huh?" I ask.

She frowns, "I'm not tormenting him!"

"Laxus, are you ready?" Mirajane asks.

"Ready?"

"To go out." She says.

Erza stares at them, "Go out?!"

I can tell how uncomfortable Laxus is as he says, "FOR STRAWBERRIES."

"Strawberries?" I ask. Poor guy. He's bad at covering things up.

"For the cake!" Mira says with a smile.

Oh. Looks like he wasn't covering anything up.

"Cake?!" Erza asks.

"Oh no." I say.

"MIRA. WHERE IS THE CAKE?" Erza demands.

"It's not done yet! That's why we're getting strawberries, you stupid bitch!" Laxus shouts.

Erza is silent. Then, she pulls a sword from thin air and whacks him on the head with it.

"Oh, dear..." Mira sighs, "We better go before you get yourself into more trouble."

When they're gone, I turn to her, "Was that necessary?"

"Eh?"

"I mean, it's just cake..."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Well, cake is just cake and..."

She slaps me, hard, on the back, "HAHAHAHAHAHA."

I have no clue what she's laughing about. I sigh, "I oughta go bring Jasper in."

"I'll help!"

"I just need to bring him-"

"I'LL. HELP."

"OfcoursewhatwouldIdowithoutyou!" I quickly say.

She nods in a very self-centered way (thank goodness she can't read minds) and proceeds to march away.

"Wait... where are you going?" I feebly call.

"To see Wendy!"

I stand up and hurry up the stairs after her. She stands outside a door, a hand raised to knock.

"Come in!" We hear.

She opens the door and we see Wendy sitting on a stool beside the bed that Jasper lays in.

"Where's Romeo?" I ask.

"Macao needed to talk to him, so I came up here by myself to fix Jasper up." She answers.

"And how is he?" Erza asks.

"He's fine. In fact, you could probably take him now." She turns from us and taps him lightly on the shoulder, "Mr. Jasper. Wake up."

There is a grumble, but eventually, he sits up.

"You look different." I say narrowing my eyes.

"Is that not the purpose of Transformation Magic?" He asks slyly.

"I thought you said that his magic didn't work on himself." Erza says.

"That's what _I _thought, as well." I say.

"Fools." He says laughing, "You underestimate me."

I frown, "It doesn't matter... We're taking you in."

Wendy gets up and leaves, whispering as she walks by, "I don't wanna get involved in this..."

"Just come quietly." Erza says.

Jasper puts his hands up. I cautiously approach him and latch on a pair of magic nullifying handcuffs. We bring him downstairs where everyone watches as we walk by. When we reach the door, I turn to face Erza.

"You have to go."

"I though you said you were coming." I tease.

"I want to... I really do."

"I wish you could."

"Cut it out and take me in already." Jasper says from behind me.

Erza smiles. Leans forward. And softly whispers against my lips, "Because we didn't get to finish last time."

I smile and turn away, "Until next time, Erza."

**~Lucy~**

"N-N-N-N-N-NATSUUUUUUU!" I squeal.

He pulls away, "What?"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'WHAT'? WHAT WAS THAT?" I shout.

"I dunno... It felt right!" He grins.

I blush ferociously, _Natsu kissed me... only on the cheek... but still... Wait... what am I thinking. No BAD LUCY!_

"BAD LUCY!" I shout aloud.

"Huh?"

"Nothing!" I say too quickly.

He leans close. Too close.

"Uhm... Natsu..."

"Huh?"

"You're a little close."

He doesn't move.

"That's a nice way of saying back off." I say.

He still doesn't move. With him being this close, I have no choice but to examine his eyes. And what I find there, I definitely was not expecting. Instead of goofy or blunt, I see observant and careful. Instead of uninterested, curiosity. Instead of a friendly look, I see... more?

He pulls away and frowns.

_Woah there Lucy. Getting a bit out of hand aren't we. Nothing more than friendship._

_No we're not! DEFINITELY MORE THAN FRIENDSHIP! _That voice says.

_You! You're back._

_I never left._

_But you finally shut up for once! You let me have a moment to myself._

_I AM you._

_Whaa?_

_I'm the part of you that you don't accept._

"NOW LISTEN UP! I ACCEPT EVERY PART OF MYSELF!"

"Lucy... are you okay?" Natsu asks.

"Huh? Of course!"

Suddenly, he picks me up and begins to carry me out of the guild, "H-HEY. WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!"

"I'm taking you home."

"Wha- WHY?"

"You need to rest after that last mission."

"But I didn't even do anything!"

"You still need rest."

Before long, I've fallen asleep to the gentle sway of his arms.

**~Gray~**

"J-Juvia?" I ask as she suddenly reaches out and grabs my arm.

"Juvia is so happy that she knows Gray-sama!"

"Huh?!"

"Juvia has never cried tears of happiness. It's all because of Gray-sama!"

I smile. It's good to see her happy, and it makes me feel even better to know that I'm the one to make her feel that way. After she opened up to me on the beach, it's almost hard to believe that she and that girl are the same person.

"Eh? Gray-sama? Are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah."

Suddenly, she pales, "G-Gray-sama?"

"Eh?"

"Your clothes..."

I look down. Shit.

"Sorry..." I mumble as I look around for them.

She hands my shirt and pants to me, "H-here..."

I swiftly put them on and pat her head, "Thank you very much."

She blushes, "Let's go on a walk in town."

"Huh?"

"Just Gray-sama and Juvia!"

"A walk?"

She nods.

Again, it lightens my heart to see her smile, but of course, I don't show it, "Oh, sure."

She take my hand and pulls me out the door. I look back in time to see Natsu carrying Lucy. I look back at Juvia. What would it be like if the two of us were that close?

"C'mon, Gray-sama!"

"Let's go to the market." I say.

"Okay!"

At the market, I buy two bread rolls (one for each of us), two tropical drinks with little paper umbrellas, and a large basket of fruit that Juvia is currently eyeing.

"To the park, then?" I suggest.

She stuffs a piece of bread into her mouth and nods happily again. A few minutes later, we sit beneath a large tree.

"Are you happy, Juvia?" I ask after a while.

"Eh? You're asking Juvia?" She asks.

"Yeah."

"That's a weird question. Why do you ask, Gray-sama."

_Because I care. _"I wanted to know how you feel about the whole Parabis thing..."

I think I see her smile drop slightly, but if it does, it's imperceptibly small, "Mira-san never told you?"

"Told me what?"

"You must not have been paying attention. We stopped by the fisherman's house and brought the Parabis back."

"WHAAT?"

She nods happily again, "It's like having Paras back!"

"Well, I mean, if you're happy."

Her eyes light up, "Gray-sama cares that Juvia is happy?!"

Dammit. I slipped, "Yeah, you're my team mate."

Her smile doesn't falter, "I'm always happier just being with you, Gray-sama!"


	23. Second Arc: Levy

_*AN: Woohoo! Enough fillers... Even though they were really short... BUT ANYWAY. Of course, it's going to start slowly, like the first one. But this arc, I'm hoping, is supposed to turn out more humorous, with not much violence. So, mostly shipping and notreallyfunny haha's. _

_**Friend: **__Please stop._

_**Me: **__I dunno, I think I'm pretty funny..._

_**Friend: **__No. Just stop._

_**Me: **__But I-_

_**Friend:**__*****__glare*_

_Whatever. Who needs friends? Anyway, if you're enjoying the fanfic this far, leave a Review, Favorite, and Follow! ~AsianNinjaChik*_

**Chapter 23**

**~Levy~**

"Idiot." Gajeel says, hugging my head to his broad chest.

"Wh-what.. I- Wait- no... I mean.. Not that, but..." I mumble incoherently.

"If you want, I'll sing for you." He says.

_Oh please. Anything but that... How EMBARASSING! And you can say that with capital letters... Oh hey look, I did. Nice work brain, _"No, it's okay... You don't have to."

There's a pause, "I know! Let's go on a job!"

I don't get a chance to protest. He picks me up and carries me over to the request board, "Pick one."

This is when Jet and Droy shuffle over, "Wh-what are you doing?" Droy asks.

"We're going on a mission." Gajeel says.

"Without us?" Jet asks.

Gajeel shrugs, "Yeah."

"But we're Team Shadowgear!" Droy says.

"Okay... And?" Gajeel asks.

"Gajeel..." I start.

"What about this one!" He says pulling one off and shoving it in my face.

"I DON'T WANNA READ IT!" I complain.

"In that case, we're off." He says.

"WAIT! GAJEEL! PUT ME DOWN!" I shout.

"We're going on a job." He says.

"NO WE'RE NOT!"

He sets me down and looks me seriously in the eye, "How 'bout you stop arguing with me so we can leave already."

I frown, "Now hold on, I never said I wanted to go to begin with."

"Eh?"

"I'm don't feel like going on a mission."

"You heard her, Gajeel." Jet says walking over with Droy right behind.

"What are you talking about? We're going on a job."

I know I'm not going to get anywhere protesting further, yet I still want to. But instead, I say, "Fine. What kind of job is it?"

"What!? Levy, you can't be serious! Going on a job with that monster?" Droy asks.

Gajeel seems to get ten times bigger, "Eh? Who're you calling a monster?"

Ignoring their bickering, I look at the job request:

_Dear Fairy Tail Wizard,_

_There are some things around my house I need done._

_Thank you._

"Wait... this is it?" I say to myself, "Gajeel, why would you pick a job like this?"

"Look at the pay."

I did as he said.

5,000,000 Jewel.

"EHHHHHHH?" I shout.

"And with just two of us, that's 2,500,000 for each of us." He says with a smug smile.

I ignore Jet's snide comment of, "I'm surprised he can do math.", and run out the door yelling, "HURRY UP, GAJEEL!"

No sooner had the words left my mouth, I am picked up and moving much faster.

"The sooner we get there the better, right?" He says.

He stops running after a time and sets me down.

"Wouldya take a look at that." He says whistling.

"That" turns out to be a mansion. A very large one, at that.

"It's huge!" I say in awe.

He snickers, "Yeah, like my-"

"Woah! Look at that!" I interrupt, not wanting to hear the rest of that sentence.

"Geehee!"

That ornate gold gates in front of us slowly open, as if beckoning us in. I take his hand and pull him in. We walk up the carefully paved walkway up to the house where we are greeted by a very pretty woman with light purple hair that reaches her waist. She wears a simple white sundress and sun hat.

"Ah! Fairy Tail?" She asks when we approach her, "Non? Il y a deux?"

"Yes, Fairy Tail." I say slowly as Gajeel turns away with a "Tck".

"Ah, bon." She says.

I nod with a smile, "We're both here to help you."

"Ah! Merci! Vous me donnez des fleurs rose, s'il-vous-plait! Je les aime beaucoup!" _**(Ah! Thank you! Please give me some pink flowers! I like them a lot!)**_

I pale, "Uhm... wh-what?"

She tsks, "Vous. Me. Donnez. Des. Fleurs. Rose. Parceque. Je. Les. Aime. Beaucoup.""

Gajeel looks at me and shrugs. I frown and say, "No comprendo?"

Her face lights up, "Ah, bon! Vous parlez espagnol?"

I cast Gajeel a worried glance. He shrugs again.

"¿Es este mejor?" She... asks? _I don't even know if she's asking me a question or insulting me!_

"Uhm... excuse me?"

She huffs, "¿Es usted estúpido?"

I'm not quite sure, but I have a feeling that what she just said has to do with me being stupid. Which I'm not. I mean, I am a Solid-Script Mage after all.

Before I have a chance to say anything, a tall man with dark blue hair comes out of the front door and says, "So, sorry! My wife doesn't speak good English... I don't either, but... Better than hers, non?"

"We're the wizards from Fairy Tail. Here to assist you with things around your house." Gajeel says.

"Ah bon! Uhm..." He turns to his wife, "Did you ask them for anything?"

She nods and repeats the phrase she had already said a couple times.

It is then that I realize she can understand what we're saying. I am unamused. Highly unamused.

"She says that she asked you to get her some pink flowers." He says.

I blink several time, "Get her... Pink flowers?"

He nods, "My dear wife loves pink flowers!"

Gajeel narrows his eyes, "And where are we supposed to find pink flowers?"

The man looks at us as though it were the most obvious thing, "Garden?"

"And where might that be?" I ask.

The wife rolls her eyes and walks in. The man smiles apologetically and leads around the house to the back where a garden is. But there are no pink flowers.

"Uhm... I don't see any pink flowers here..." I point out.

The man laughs, "This is only a small portion of our garden. The pink flowers are much further in!"

Gajeel clenches his fist, "I don't see why you lazy asses can't do this yourself!"

I slap him and hurriedly say, "We'll be right on it!"

The man smiles and walks in through a back door.

"Alright! Let's go look for some pink flowers!" I cheer.

"Can't you just use your magic and make some?" He asks.

I stop and think about it, "You're right!"

I put my hand out in front of my and move it in a sideways arc as I say, "Solid Script: Roses!"

The word "roses" pops up in front of me and takes the form of real roses. Thankfully, they're pink.

"Let's go give this to him then." Gajeel says.

I nod. We walk up to the back door and knock. He opens the door and asks, "Hmmm?"

"We have the roses!" I say showing them to him.

He smiles and opens the door wider and ushers us inside, "Good, good! I put in vase. Then, you go find missing cats. Blue. White. And black."

I tilt my head, "Find three cats. One blue, one white, and one black?"

He nods, "Oui!"

"Do you know where we could find them?" I ask.

"In house."

And with that, he takes the flowers and walks away.

"So. Let's go find these cats!" I cheer.

"HOW? THIS HOUSE IS GIGANTIC!"

"If we search together, it shouldn't be too bad!" I say.

"Whatever. Let's go already."

We start on the fifth floor of the mansion. There are only three rooms on this floor, one of which is an empty bathroom, an empty observatory, and an empty plain room. We move on to the fourth floor. The floor is much larger with sixteen rooms. We find three more empty bathrooms, six spare bedrooms, and an empty sunroom. The door to the eleventh room is large and iron, and I see Gajeel quickly lick it.

"Gajeel!"

He mutters a quick apology and opens it to reveal a room filled with books and bookshelves.

My eyes widen, "This library is wonderful!"

"Tch. Are the stupid cats in here?" Gajeel asks.

"Who're you calling stupid?" A groggy voice asks from atop a pile of books.

"HAPPY?!" We both shout.

_*AN: "You're so loud..." HAPPY! YOU STUPID BLUE EXCEED! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN THE PAST 20ISH CHAPTERS?! Anywayyyy, there's that! Be looking out for a one-shot about what the exceeds were up to during the last arc! Don't forget to Review, Favorite, and/or Follow c: ~AsianNinjaChik*_


	24. Second Arc: Laxus

_*AN: Woah! I'm back! How long has it been? Anywayyy, I am finally back! (And if you haven't already, go check out my Fairy Tail one-shot about the Exceeds c: ) Woohoo! It's good to be back, for sure! Uhm, totally random, but how many readers here on have a tumblr? If you have one, be sure to follow me at: _

_Anyway, enough with the promotions. Sorry for not getting this up sooner! I've hit a major writer's block so I'm kinda wesxcftyhbnjioikmlp right now. This chapter took a bit of work, but I am quite glad that I did get it up! Uhm, dear reader, thank you so much for sticking through this far with me! I mean, this turned out to be a much bigger success than I had thought it would be, so a quick thank you to anyone and everyone who actually made it this far! Uhm, I hope that 2014 is going to rock (Or is rocking) for you! I also hope that everyone had an enjoyable Christmas Holiday, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, etc, and that everyone is ready to go back to school! (Not that I expect you to, because who likes school, anyway?)_

_I really appreciate everyone who's been reviewing, favoriting, and/or following, because it makes me smile really stupidly whenever I get an email that says that! And for those of you who aren't reviewing, f&f'ing (Oh, that can be read wrong 0-0), that's okay! I just hope that you're enjoying the read c: Uhm, wow. This author's note has turned really long.. merp! It wasn't meant to be... Anyways: THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU! ~AsianNinjaChik_

**Chapter 24**

**~Laxus~**

It's not long before Mira returns and takes my arm and drags me while saying, "I'm ready for our date!"

That girl has some strange ideas to say the least, "Eh?"

She pouts, "You _are _the one who said, 'Say Mira, we never did get those strawberries.'"

I cringe. Yeah, I remember that.

"Yeah, but I never said it was a date."

She giggles and we continue to the marketplace in silence.

_Dammit. She's cute. Wait what? Oh no. Nononononononono. I just called Mira cute. That's not good. Opposite of good. Bad. This is bad. Very bad indeed! Not just very bad, though, but super duper I'd-rather-take-on-Sabertooth-AND-Raven-Tail-again bad. _I quickly glance at her. BIG mistake.

"Laxus, are you feeling alright? You're awfully red." She says worriedly.

_Shit shit shit shit! Not good. Not good. She's worried... Is that a good thing? Does it mean she's interested in me? Oh shit. NO! Can't lose composure. Especially not out here in public. No, NO, NOOOO! This is not going well... Not going well, at all._

"If you want to go back to the guild, it's fine..." She says.

I shake my head in what I hope looks like a collected manner, "I'm just hot, that's all."

This answer seems to satisfy her because she nods. Something warm suddenly wraps itself around my hand. I have a quick mental breakdown before realizing that it's just Mira's hand. _Wait... It's Mira's hand..._

"Mira..."

"What is it?" She asks.

"Your hand..."

She looks confused, "What about it?"

"Uh..."

She smiles slyly, and not at all sweetly like she usually does. In a way, I feel almost privileged that she acts the way she used to around me, but in some other ways, it terrifies me.

"I don't wanna get separated from you. Besides, it makes this feel more like a date!"

I look away, "Right." _We're not even at the marketplace yet..._

For whatever reason, she seems to find my reaction funny. What was funny about it? I honestly don't know. To this day, the minds of women remain a mystery to me.

As we pass by a large mansion, Mira stops me, "Is that Levy and Gajeel up there?"

Sure enough, a petite blunette and tall fellow stand in front of the house.

"They're probably on a job." I say nonchalantly.

Mira pulls a clipboard out from who knows where and flips through a few sheets of paper.

"There's no job listed on here that leads to or is from this house." She says.

I think about it for a moment... It is pretty strange, "Come to think of it..." I stop. _What was I just thinking about?_ For some reason, I can't remember what I was just thinking about.

"What?"

"I... I can't remember."

She nods, "Have you ever seen this house before?"

The memory comes back, "No, I haven't..."

"Peculiar, to say the least." She says.

"Should we investigate?" I ask.

"In secret."

"Is there something wrong with going in and just accusing the people inside?" I ask.

She looks at me crossly, "Of course there is. We're going to do this in secret. There's something very fishy going on, here."

I sniff the air and detect the sharp tang of fish, "I didn't know your smelling was that good. It does reek of fish."

"What? I didn't smell anything.. it's an expression."

"Oh.. Well, it smells like fish."

"Do you know where the smell is coming from?"

I close my eyes and sniff the air some more before realizing, "Wait a minute, I AM NOT A DOG!"

This causes her to slap me, hard, "I never said you were!"

I look away from her glare. She is one of the few people that am not willing to piss off. I hate to admit it, but she's probably as strong as me... Maybe even stronger.

"Sorry."

She smiles sweetly, "Alright. Now have you determined where the smell is coming from?"

I point at the house, "From there."

She nods, "We should report this to Makarov."

"What happened to secretly investigating?"

"We still are."

"How?"

"Once help comes."

"Help?" I frown, "We don't need help."

She seems to like that I said 'we' because she smiles, "We left without telling Makarov. He'll get worried and probably some people after us. He'll first send Gray and Natsu. Then, Juvia will declare that she wants to come. Makarov will say that it's a good idea, and tell Lucy to go, as supervision so that those two don't cause too much trouble.."

_How the hell does she come up with this stuff?_, "Why not send Erza? She's stronger than Gray and Natsu."

"She went with Jellal, remember?"

I don't, but I nod anyway, "Right."

She looks around and says, "They'll be here soon."

"What makes you say- Oh."

Gray and Natsu come charging at us the moment I begin to speak. Juvia and Lucy are on their heels, although they're running with less urgency.

"I TOLD YOU I FOUND THEM FIRST, ICE PRINCESS!" Natsu roars as they butt heads.

"YOU DID NOT. YOU TRIED GOING IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION, FLAME BRAIN." Gray hollers back.

Before the fighting escalates any further, I step in and bop them both on the head which causes them to glare at me and say, "YOU THINK YOU CAN TAKE ME?"

Mira pulls me away and smiles sweetly, "Do you two need something?"

This shuts them up, "We're just here because Makarov told us to look for you two because you've been gone a while." Natsu says.

"And Juvia came because Gray-sama was going!" Juvia adds.

Mira flashes me a triumphant glance, "Yeah, yeah." I say, "I assume you're here because Makarov told you to watch the two morons?"

Lucy nods, "Yeah, how'd you know?"

I glance at Mira, "It's painfully obvious." I say, not wanting to seem stupid.

"Now that you're here, we need your help with something." Mira says.

This catches Natu's attention, "What is it?"

_*AN: Woohoo for short chapters! Uhm, sorry for the long wait guys!_ _Don't forget to leave a review, favorite, or follow if you liked it c: ~AsianNinjaChik*_


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